The Quest 2: The Search for Oneself
by UkyoRafa
Summary: The sequel to my story, The Quest In the Name of Friendship. Sora and his friends have wakened from their sleep and have been confronted by new enemies the time has come for the heroes to gather and bring light to the darkness once more. BIG CROSSOVER
1. Prologue

Hello, everyone! Hope you're all doing great. Me? I'm finally on vacation and, because of that, I've been able to do some writing. I've finished some translations of my other stories' chapters and I've also been able to write this: the prologue to the sequel of "The Quest".

I'm really excited about this, and I hope that you guys will enjoy reading it just as much as I do writing it.

I've been also playing a lot of KH2, doing my best to level up my drives and summons so I can beat the Hades Cup and Sephiroth (man, he's harder in this game!). I still have to finish it so I can define the story completely, but there's nothing to worry about: I'm only one battle away from beating the game. Either way, it's been a long time since I played, so some details might not be that accurate... please bear with me :P

Now, onto other, more important stuff: if you're new to this story, know that this is the sequel (duh) of another fan-fiction I wrote. Both of these stick to the main storyline of Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, respectively, but they're both MASSIVE crossovers. If you read the first one, you know the characters (they'll all be here :D); if you didn't, then try it out and see what you think; and if you began to read the first one, but didn't like it, then what are you doing here:P

And, last but not least, comes the disclaimer: the majority (not all) of the characters appearing in this story do not belong to me; they are property of (takes a deep breath): Square Enix, Disney, Capcom, Nintendo, Rumiko Takahashi, Masami Kurumada, Tim Burton, and Touchstone Pictures. Particularly, some other characters belong to my friends Jorge Octavio Colmenero Acevedo and Kiosce Domingo. I'll disclaim other characters as I add them to the story. And also remember that there are actually some other characters that don't belong to anyone but to yours truly :)

Well, with all that said, onto the prologue. I'll add the first chapter shortly; I'm about to finish it. Enjoy!

THE QUEST 2: THE SEARCH FOR ONESELF

_Prologue_

Nearly six months had passed since that epic battle against the infinite darkness. Many heroes fought it valiantly, risking their lives for their land and friends. Their struggle did not go unrewarded, for they reclaimed their homes and won many companions who trusted them with their hearts, thus becoming a fellowship of love and friendship. Yet the war against evil was not over... A spell was cast on the community.

They forgot their battles next to one another against the beings without hearts.

Four valiant warriors rested from a terrible battle they had recently won. Two magical beings from a far-away kingdom, a wizard and a knight, dreamt of their friends, of space, and of the enemies they had defeated in order to aid their proud king; a young man dreamt about his best friend – his older brother – who he had forgotten during the fights and let out a chuckle in his sleep; and a young boy – the most powerful of them – began to remember his most beloved friend at last: a beautiful, young girl with a blue glance and dark chestnut hair, who he had always treasured since the day he had met her, back when he was but a lad... And while all of this happened, another young boy, clad in black, left the castle where they slept, accompanied by a small, yet powerful being, and faced a mysterious man who challenged him with a most intriguing choice...

Five young men took a break from the fierce struggles they had waged some time ago. Yet their armors and their eyes were still ready for war. They kept jealous watch on their goddess, who dwelt inside a temple in Greece, next to their strong comrades. They looked at the nocturne, star-filled sky and sighed, as if something they had forgotten was struggling to be remembered...

One man sat alone on a beach next to a tranquil sea, his gaze lost on the ocean's waves. His sword was next to him, a blade with a gun on the hilt. He grabbed it and swung it gently from one side to another. It was so light – it was as if he had used it too much lately. But he could not remember when it was that he had last swung it to save a companion.

Five friends stood together, side by side, two women and three men. A young ninja, a gorgeous fighter, a sturdy pilot, a mysterious dark man, and a valiant soldier lowered their heads in silent prayer at the grave of a dear friend. The waters where her body supposedly rested were calm. The soldier got on his knees and with a sigh, gently dropped a rose on the water, letting it be carried away by the current. And as the liquid climbed onto the rose, the five friends smiled quietly, as if they had heard their friends' voice echoing near...

A young boy rested from his arduous duties. He had been training his platoon all day long. He was now home, next to his mother and his father and his girlfriend eating dinner. After that hearty meal, he and his beloved stepped out of his house for a while to feel a cool draft of air – it was now summer. As they raised their heads to the heavens and looked at the stars, the young boy heard the roaring of cannons and chuckled as if he had suddenly remembered something – the night-troopers had begun their training.

On a magical land ruled by a beautiful princess, a courageous lad entered the room where a lost girl rested. She did not know why she had come to this place or how was it that she had gotten there. But as they looked at each other, they smiled lovingly, for their hearts had spoken to each other many times before, and though the reminiscence of their friends had all but faded, the memory of their love refused to flee their hearts. He sat next to her and held her hand tenderly, to which she responded by letting her head rest on his chest.

In a city, a clocked figure roamed the darkness. He kept constant vigil on the dark corners of the alleys. His eyes were alert and his hand gripped his sword firmly. The huge man had a lonely heart which had known friendship many times, yet refused to embrace it completely. The fierce creature was uneasy – a strange feeling had invaded him: he missed something or somebody. He did not know why, but the feeling kept him from sleeping at night. Doing his best not to pay attention to this sentiment, he kept wandering the streets of the city, waiting for an excuse to punish an evildoer...

Two men fought against each other relentlessly. Nevertheless, there was no anger in their fists or feet: only the desire to share a good fight. They were very powerful and used the energies about them to attack each other. The more they fought, the happier they grew, for they felt as if their hearts were recalling battles they had long forgotten. And so they kept on battling, struggling to hold on to that emotion.

A succubus lay on her bed, looking outside her window, wondering why was it that she felt so hopelessly bored. Nothing that she tried seemed to cheer her up: she had forgotten something and that maddened her. She longed for a good time, yet lust was not at all that which kept her from sleeping... A feeling inside her chest – the need for a friend.

There was another one of the same species as her that had the same problem. She too longed for the embrace of someone dear to her. Nevertheless, her heart had managed to hold on to the memory of a companion who had once lived inside her castle. She longed to see him and to live new adventures with him. And as she recalled him, images of other people appeared in her head...

A young cat-girl woke up from a nap and smiled at the new day that greeted her. She stretched her body and left her home to take a walk. She did not know why, but that day, she felt especially happy. She had dreamt many things and, although she did not quite remember what her dreams had been about, her heart was filled with joy. She decided that, even though it would surely be cliché, a glass of milk would be the perfect thing to have for breakfast.

Another dark creature, a – some might say young – vampire found himself quite bored. He was all alone and longed to have a good fight. He had already thought of new stories for his scar and did not wish to come up with more for that night. Everyone always asked him about his scar. And every time he told a different tale. But there was something not quite right: he was sure he had not told anybody the story about the mad squirrel or about the house-changing business... but as he rehearsed them for the first time, he felt he was experiencing a déjà vu.

In the depths of the sea, a young mermaid swam against the ocean's currents in order to look for what she liked to call "humans' stuff". A little fat fish swam by her side, pressing her to go back to her home. Yet the girl refused to give up her quest. However, no matter how many thing she found, she did not seem to be satisfied. To possess "humans' stuff" alone in her grotto was not enough anymore. How she longed to meet a human being... That would surely make her truly happy.

Inside a most beautiful and mysterious forest, a brave elf-warrior and his eternal fairy friend welcomed a young hobbit to their home. It had been quite a while since he had last visited them. The young lad had always been fascinated with the unknown, and even though he did not remember it, he had already lived what had been his greatest adventure next to his two friends, who had been confused of late: for never before in their thousand years of existence had they forgotten one of their experiences, and now they were confronted with a void in their minds that, little by little, seemed to be filling up...

Four lads were having dinner together. All of them had agreed to meet to practice a bit of martial arts. A young man and a woman – whose marriage (though still not performed) had been arranged since they were very small – had challenged the couple that sat beside them at the table: another lad and a girl. They had been late, for the young man had lost his way. He and the girl had met not too long ago and had quickly fallen in love...

It was morning and the sunlight was pouring through the window. A gorgeous young woman woke up and yawned, sitting on her bed. She gently rubbed her eyes and let out sleepy sigh. She glanced at the clock – it was still early. She smiled, for she surely could use a bit more sleep. Then she looked at her side and gently leaned and kissed the young man who lay next to her, still sleeping. The lad woke up and opened his eyes and instantly smiled as he saw his beloved laying next to him still. He also noticed that it was early and lovingly embraced her. They tenderly kissed a bit and then fell back into a dreamless sleep.

And while this happened, a confused lad entered a manor, his heart filled with despair, his eyes unwilling to believe what he had seen, and his ears unable to accept as true what he had heard. Confronting many enemies, he used a mythical weapon to make his way into the depths of the house. All foes fell before him, for he was very skilled with the blade. But as strong as his body was, he found his heart failing as his opponents told him an awful truth. He would not accept it. Plunging deeper into the mansion, his desolation grew as he realized that he would soon be no more: the thought of becoming "a part of someone else" did not suffice to console him. What evil mind had machinated all of this? Why was this happening to him? Memories rushed back to him, making his head hurt. His dear friends... would their hearts forget him completely? Would he forget them now that he was about to become something else? Yes, he thought, infinite sadness conquering his fading heart... there was nothing to do but to accept his cruel fate. His vacation was over.


	2. Chapter 1: The Long Sleep Ends

Hello, guys.

Well, as promised, here's the first chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it. :) Thanks for reminding, Kiosce :P

_Chapter One: The Long Sleep Ends_

_Narrator: Sora_

I rubbed my eyes and let out a long yawn. I was inside a white room... How the heck did I get there? I couldn't remember...

The place was really big. But there was nothing else to it, except for the thing that was in the center of the room. This was where I had been sleeping. It seemed to be a giant crystal in the shape of an egg or something like that. Its white walls had protected me in my sleep. And now it lay open. Gentle winds had pushed me out of it, into this white room which seemed to have no walls. It was as if I were inside another dimension... Which led me to ask myself again: How the hell did I end in that place??

More importantly, where were my friends?

Well, thankfully, this question received a quick answer. For as I looked around, I saw a door which led to another room where many crystals similar to the one I had just left, only that they were smaller. The room had a light blue color and seemed to be some sort of laboratory. But that wasn't really important. What really mattered was that there were my two friends: Donald and Goofy.

"SORA!!" they both exclaimed merrily, as if we hadn't seen each other in ages. Without knowing why, I think I felt the same way: I was incredibly happy to see that pair again.

"Donald! Goofy!" I exclaimed (becoming a little surprised, for my voice suffered a major change... it was now much graver. Cool!), and we all hugged and laughed happily, leaping up and down. "I missed you so much, guys! Don't ask me why... But I'm really happy to see you!"

"Same here, buddy!" chuckled Goofy. "Boy, that was quite a nap! Wasn't it, Donald?"

"Sure was!" the duck agreed. "But... um, where are we?"

"That's the real question, I think..." I murmured.

We all became quiet for a moment as our fourth companion entered the white room, with a big smile on his face. He had grown a bit taller since we had last been together, but he still had the same eyes, the same strong body, and the same smirk which we all cherished. Smiling too, we ran to his encounter and embraced him too. Honestly, group hugs are really great when they're properly timed.

"Siegfried!" I exclaimed, laughing. "You're here too! For a moment there, I thought we had lost you!"

"I'm like a bad omen, I think!" he answered with a chuckle. "I always show up! I'm so happy to see you all!"

"It really doesn't matter where we are, as long as we're together," Goofy declared, with a smile.

"You said it, Goofy," Donald quacked. "Boy, Sora, you've really grown up a lot!"

It was true. As I took a step back and looked at myself, I noticed that I practically reached Siegfried's nose. Back when we had met, he was one full head taller than me. My clothes didn't exactly fit anymore... And, again, we come to the part where my voice had begun to change. It was obvious that some time had passed since we had set out running after Pluto in hopes of finding King Mickey. How much time exactly, we didn't know. But we sure as hell would've liked to know what had happened... because neither of us remembered a thing.

"Wow..." I mumbled. "What do you know? I am taller, huh?"

"Very much," Siegfried said. "It's surprising, actually... But how did that happen? I mean, when did you get so tall?"

"Better question, Siegfried, how did we end up here?" Donald questioned. "I can't remember a thing..."

"What's the last thing everyone remembers?" Goofy asked.

"Let's see..." I muttered, crossing my arms, doing my best to get my memories in order. "We got to Kingdom Hearts... We beat Ansem... You guys all remember that, right?"

"Yeah," they all answered.

"After that, all of the worlds came back... We ended up in a road in the middle of a green field... We ran into Gabrielle who told us about Aeris and Wilheim and we met you too, Siegfried..."

"Yeah, I remember all of that," our friend said. "Gabrielle then showed us that Pluto had a letter with your King's seal on it and we followed him. We did this until night fell and we decided to take a break. I fell asleep..." he paused for a second and then snapped his fingers. "That's the last thing I recall."

"You're right," Goofy agreed, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I can't remember anything after that."

"Neither can I..." Donald murmured. "What about you, Sora?"

"...Nope. Nothing," I admitted.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Goofy exclaimed. "Let's ask Jiminy! He writes everything we go through on his journal!"

"Good thinking, Goofy!" Donald said. "Come on, wake him up!"

"Jiminy! Wake up, buddy!" Goofy said as he gently shook his jacket. There Jiminy lay, in one of his pockets. The little cricket yawned, put on his hat and leapt into sight. Were we glad to see him, too.

"Hi, Jiminy!" I greeted. "Nice to see you again, pal!"

"Hi, Sora!" he answered, cheerfully. "Hello, Donald, Goofy, and Siegfried."

"Good morning, Jiminy," Siegfried chuckled.

"How did you sleep?" asked the duck.

"Very well and a bit too much, I believe," the cricket replied. "I think I'm still a bit sleepy... But that's all right. It was time to get up, either way, I reckon..." he then turned to see me and leapt back in shock. "Wow, Sora! When did you get so big?"

"We have no idea," I answered and we all sat down next to him. "Jiminy, do you remember what happened after we met Gabrielle and chased down Pluto until nightfall?"

"Why, of course I do! We..." he began to say, yet immediately fell silent. He tried hard to remember, but it seemed nothing came to his mind. I mean, even his cheeks turned red. However, there was no memory inside his head that he could find. I suppose he was just as shocked as us. "That's so weird. I can't remember anything. In fact, where are we?"

"We don't know," Siegfried said. "Nevertheless, we think you might have the answer to this riddle, Jiminy. Because it's possible that none of us remember anything, but I'm sure your diary can't forget a single memory."

"My diary!" the cricket chuckled. "You fellows are so right! Let me take a quick look. I don't suppose we've been sleeping for such a long time. I'm certain some things have happened. And I'm sure I wouldn't be so careless as not to write them down." He hastily took out his little booklet and began to search his last writings. He checked page after page. And then he started to go back on his journal. Forward and back, forward and back... until at long last, he put on a very shocked face and exclaimed: "Impossible!!"

"What's wrong?" we all asked at the same time. "Has it been erased??" I inquired... if this were to be true, he would surely be devastated. He had put his heart into writing that journal!

"No, that's not it," He answered, showing us his booklet. There were many pages filled with his handwriting. "See? These are the last notes I have."

"Are you sure none of them say anything about what happened to us?" Donald questioned.

"I'm certain!" Jiminy replied. "Listen, this is one of the last entries that I have: 'Sora and King Mickey locked the door with their powerful blades and then the worlds started to heal. There was sadness in the heroes' faces as they bid each other farewell, but an indescribable joy, too. Before returning to our side, Sora went to Ukyo and hugged her fiercely. He didn't want his most trusted friend to go, but the choice was not his. With great resolve, he promised her and the others that they would meet again. Then, he went to see Kairi, his most beloved friend, and made the same oath. All became white and we appeared on a green field, where we met Gabrielle, who gave us happy news and where Siegfried reappeared, much to our joy. We chased Pluto, who had a letter with our King's seal, until nightfall and then we decided to rest for a while before continuing our new journey.'"

All of us remained quiet for a few moments. Then, Siegfried asked: "So, is there really nothing else?"

"Only a single entry, which I can't understand..." the cricket said, scratching the back of his head. "It says here, and this is really the final entry: 'Thank Naminé.'"

"Thank Naminé?" I muttered, making a puzzled face as I looked at the rest of my friends.

"Who the blazes is Naminé?" asked Siegfried.

"If we knew, we wouldn't be in this mess," Donald said.

"I wonder who she is and what was it that she did..." Goofy mumbled.

"I have no idea..." I said. "But if Jiminy wrote that down in his journal, that means something happened after that night, which we can't remember, and that she was involved. Whatever the case, we have to make sure to thank her when we meet her... assuming we'll meet her again, that is."

"Okay, point taken," Siegfried said. "Nevertheless, that still leaves us with a question to be answered..."

"Well, you're right about that, but maybe we should get out of here first...?" Goofy suggested. "There could be Heartless in here. Gawrsh! What if they were the ones who locked us in here??"

"...Total brainwash?" I inquired.

"I don't think the Heartless could've done this," Siegfried said. "Two reasons. Reason A: the Heartless wanted us dead and we're still drawing breath. They would've at the very least stolen our hearts. Reason B: I can't sense any evil presences nearby. In fact, I can't sense any presences at all."

He was right. It was as if the place was completely abandoned. This made things all the more interesting. Or intriguing...

"Still, I do believe that someone has been toying with our minds," Jiminy said. "Otherwise we would've remembered something by now."

"How do we know that someone didn't just come and grab us and put us inside those things while we were sleeping and we didn't wake up until now?" Goofy asked.

"Because of this, because of Naminé!" Jiminy exclaimed, pointing at the final entry on his journal. "None of us remember her, yet her name is still there! That means we saw her and we spoke with her. But I have no memory of that girl!"

"Okay, time out, everyone," I hastily said. "We have a problem: we don't know where we are, we don't know why we're here or who brought us here. All that we know is that we remember all of our friends still and that we met a girl named Naminé and that we still have to find King Mickey and Riku and Kairi. Long story short: let's get out of here and we'll get back to that later."

"Finally, something that makes sense," Donald quacked. "Let's split. But we have to be careful: I don't care if you can't sense anyone or anything, there could be anyone waiting for us in this place. And I don't care what any of you say: I don't think they have the best intentions."

"Okay, let's go," I agreed, except for the fact that I sort of thought that the people who had put us there wouldn't want anything bad to happen to us... Otherwise, like Siegfried had stated earlier, we would already be dead.

"Hop in, Jiminy!" Goofy invited, opening up his pocket.

"I sure hope I'll be able to get my notes in order..." the cricket mumbled, none too happy about the situation.

"Don't worry, Jiminy. Everything's cool, you know?" Siegfried said, with a smirk.

"Ah, I miss Cloud," Donald chuckled. "I hope we can see him and the others again."

"Aye to that," I said. "But we'll get to that later. Come on, let's make like a tree and leave!"

Unsheathing our weapons, we quickly moved to the room where they had been sleeping in. The crystals that had kept their resting bodies secure were wide-open. Everything else was securely closed. We quickly studied our surroundings and left the room.

The following stance had many computers in it. All of them were shattered, as if someone had gone into frenzy and had beat them up with a baseball bat or something of the sort. Some equipment still sparked as we passed by. Whatever had happened there, it didn't look like it had been too long ago. Looking at each other, we nod our faces and kept on going as quietly as we could, our guards and weapons raised.

I can't tell you exactly why... but as we moved forward through the unknown laboratory, my hands tingled with excitement and my heart beat merrily. You might think that I was thrilled to find challenging opponents. Well, even though that's a bit too much like our old friend Ryu, it was partly true. But what really animated me was the fact that I was about to rush into another wild adventure, with my good friends by my side. Our last journey had been full of perils and fights. We had laughed and cried together, hand in hand, always looking out for each other. Those months had been the greatest of my life. To feel that I would fight by their side again, that I would meet my old companions once more... that I would be able to see Ukyo again... I can't even begin to describe how happy I felt, how excited I was. And all of this fueled my strength. I really wanted to try out the Keyblade after such a long sleep!

We went past many other rooms until at last we reached one where the walls' color was no longer that light blue that had accompanied us until now. There were some stairs which led somewhere else. Where, exactly? Well, that was what we had to find out.

"So far there's been no trouble, but that's no reason we shouldn't let our guards down," I whispered. "Perhaps they're waiting for us upstairs."

"Yeah," Donald agreed. "Siegfried, why don't you go and take a look?"

"I don't think I'd do much good," Siegfried answered. "I've got a big, blind spot, remember?" For a moment there, I think we all forgot that he had lost the vision of his right eye on our previous travels...

"Oh..." Donald muttered and then let out the most hilarious nervous laughter you've ever heard. Goofy began to chuckle and his laughs were just as funny. Pretty soon, the two of them began to chuckle uncontrollably in a low voice and were struggling not to make too much noise. I was about to tell them to be quiet, but the sounds of their voices started to make me laugh as well. The more I tried to keep quiet, the more I laughed. I don't know why the hell that happened... I guess they were just as happy as I was and were looking for an excuse just to let it out. Even Siegfried made a face as he tried to contain his laughs.

"Guys, come on!" he whispered, at last, struggling to keep a serious tone. "We're supposed to be undercover here! If there's someone up there, either he's clueless or he's deaf. Come on, quit it and have someone go up there and take a look!"

"Okay, okay, I'll go..." I answered, calming down. Siegfried shook his head and smiled as I walked past him and started to go up the stairs.

I soon found myself coming out of what appeared to be a secret passage in the middle of a library. I looked left and right and spun my Keyblade. I was completely alert. In fact, I was a bit surprised about how fresh I felt. After such a long sleep, one would think I would've felt completely insecure and that I would've forgotten how to even grab a weapon. Yet I was ready to take on any enemies that might have lurked nearby. I became aware that I had most likely been fighting. My mind might have forgotten what had happened, but my body was as sharp as ever.

Seeing that there was no sign of anybody inside the library (or anywhere near for that matter), I lowered my weapon and called out to my friends.

"The coast is clear!" I yelled. "Come on up!"

Donald, Goofy, and Siegfried quickly caught up with me. The duck had his staff raised and looked from left to right without rest.

"I told you it's cool, Donald," I said.

"What do you know? You've been sleeping for a very long time, remember?" he retorted.

"Yeah, and so have you. Besides, I'm feeling really powerful right now, so you don't have to worry about getting ambushed."

"Aw, phooey. You woke up more bigheaded than usual, you know?" he quacked, to which I merely chuckled and shrugged.

"Siegfried, what are you doing?" asked Goofy as he noticed our companion was grabbing many books from their shelves and was struggling to fit them all into a bag he had obtained from a closet nearby. When he found out that there was no possible way that another one would enter, he started to hand them out to us.

"I'm getting my payment," he replied. "Whoever locked us in this place didn't even bother to ask us what we thought about the matter. Though I don't think they're bad, I don't like being treated like that. So I'm borrowing all of these. A little culture never hurt anybody. What's more, there might be important stuff in some of these books that might help us understand things better. There were no notes or anything in the laboratory. What better place to store them than a library?"

"A safe box that nobody except the owner knows where it is," I answered.

"...Okay, that's a good reply. Either way, we might learn something useful."

"Okay, have it your way..." I sighed and put the two books that he handed over to me inside my pockets. "But are you sure you want to carry that bag around? It looks heavy."

"Yeah, you put a lot of stuff into it, Siegfried," Donald added.

"Of course I want to take this," he said. "Besides, you guys can help me if I get really tired."

"And you say I woke up bigheaded," I said to Donald, while smirking.

"I take that back," he quacked, with a chuckle.

"Sure, we'll help you out, buddy," Goofy, as friendly as ever, assured. "Right now, though, I just want to know where we are. What sort of place is this?"

"Well, this room is a library. I think we've cleared that out..." I said. "Yet the place we came from seemed to be a secret lab..."

As I said this, we all began to study the room more carefully. The walls were made out of wood and there was a red carpet beneath our feet which disappeared as it reached the stairs that lead to the laboratory rooms. There was a large window in one of the walls, with big, white curtains covering it. A gentle, orange light poured into the stance. It seemed like the light of a fading sun...

"I bet we're inside someone's house," the knight declared.

"Well, that 'someone' doesn't seem to be around," Donald added, finally convinced that the residence was utterly empty. "Let's get out of here. I don't suppose any of you want to leave a 'thank you' note, right?"

"Not particularly," Siegfried said.

"Well, things do seem quiet enough," I said. "On our way, I guess."

We exited the library without saying another world. We then saw we were in the upper floor of what appeared to be a manor. The stairs led down to a large, almost completely empty stance. There was little furniture: a clock, a chair, a couch... And I think that was about it. There was a big door which led outside. The light of the dying sun poured through its upper windows into the stance. There was a smell of fine wood all over the place, as if the house had just been built. Whoever was the owner of this manner sure had good taste. But, with every step that we took toward the exit, we became more and more convinced that there was absolutely no one inside the manor.

"Okay, nobody home," Donald said in a loud voice. "Let's go look for the kitchen. I'm starving."

"Um, I don't think that's such a good idea, Donald..." Goofy mumbled.

"Either way, he's got a point." Siegfried added. "It seems to me I haven't eaten in weeks. I would give it all for a nice steak... or for one of Ukyo's Okonomiyakis.

"Oh, don't even mention those!" I whined. "It's bad enough we're hungry and you're talking about delicacies."

"Come on, Sora. They were good, but I wouldn't call them a delicacy," Donald said.

"I loved them. Either way, it doesn't matter. Assaulting the kitchen probably isn't a good idea, because we have no idea where it is and we don't know when the owner is coming back. On the other hand, I am in the mood for having a bite. Let's just hope that there's a store of something of the sort near."

"And I suppose you have the world's currency to pay for it?"

"We'll just have to figure that one out somehow."

At last, we exited the house. We almost let out a moan as we saw, marveled, the sky that welcomed us. The sun was slightly hiding behind the mountains, yet he didn't seem to be moving. It seemed to be an eternal twilight. A warm feeling invaded my heart. Suddenly, I felt right at home. It was really weird to feel this, but very nice, too. It's the sort of feeling that pushes you to leave your home and take a walk around the block. Perhaps while drinking coffee or while having a glass of lemonade, depending on if it's hot or cold. And the smell of the garden was all the more inviting, too. The grass was short and green and there were many lovely bushes cut perfectly round. If I was on vacation or something, I swear I could've just laid there and take a long nap (yes, I did realize I had just woken up from a sleep of I don't know how many days). And last but not least, there seemed to be a little forest right in front of the manor. It didn't seem mysterious or dangerous. More than that, it appeared to be an extension of the garden. What can I say? Hat's off to this guy, regarding his home and its location.

"I can't explain why," I muttered. "But I suddenly have the incredible urge to eat a salty ice cream."

"A salty what?" my three friends said.

"Salty ice cream," I answered. "You know, it's like a Popsicle. Only it's a bit salty. It's really, really good."

"That sounds yummy," Goofy chuckled.

"Don't ask me. I don't even know what a Popsicle is. I think I died before they invented them..." Siegfried added.

"...Never heard of that before," Donald said.

...Neither had I. As we remained silent and looking at the everlasting sunset, I desperately tried to recall when was the last time I had a salty ice cream. Yet nothing came to my mind. In fact, as I thought on it, it began to sound strange. For a moment, I couldn't even remember the words. And the picture of this Popsicle, which was as clear as the spring sky once, had all but vanished from my head. Where did that come from?

As that may had been, I didn't have much more time to think about it. More than the desire to know where the hell we were and why the heck we had been brought there, my friends' stomachs' complaints could hardly be silenced.

"It seems there's a little town beyond those woods," Donald said. "Yeah! I bet they have some food there."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go there!" Goofy chuckled and dashed to the woods, alongside Donald and Siegfried. I sighed and decided not to give the salty ice cream more importance, for the moment.

My friends rushed through the forest, barely paying attention to their surroundings. I know they were hungry, but we still had to be careful. Sure, there was nobody inside the manor. Yet now, we were entering an unknown town... Who knew what could live there. I followed them closely, turning my head left and right, the Keyblade at the ready, hoping that no enemies would try to ambush us. Luckily, this didn't happen at all. This place was also deserted. As soon as I understood this, I shrugged and decided to drop my guard for a while. After all, my stomach was first at that moment.

We got to a concrete wall which had a hole in it big enough for us to reach the town behind it. We promptly crossed to the other side and became even more dazzled with the marvelous place we had woken up to. The town was really pretty, and its beauty grew as it was bathed by the twilight sun. The streets were wide and had many lights on the ground in the shapes of tiny, white squares. One could barely notice that there was a bulb inside them at that time, because the sun, though it seemed about to set, barely left any shadows visible. Most of the buildings' walls were painted with a dark, yellow color with tints of red, green, and orange here and there. The roads were also yellow. Because of these tones, it was hard to see where the sky had ended and the structures commenced.

"What a beautiful place," Siegfried sighed. "It reminds me of the times Wilheim and I used to wander through the streets of our country together, when we were away from Magnus. What's more, this sky reminds me of Master Gerard and Miss Anne's farm. I wish we could all still be together..."

"Master Gerard and Miss Anne?" Goofy asked.

"Yes," Siegfried explained. "When Siegfried and I were fifteen years old, we got to this farm, where a middle-aged couple gave us a place to live in. They sort of became our parents, since Wilheim and I never knew our mom our dad when we were little."

"That sounds nice," Donald quacked with a smile. "What happened to them?"

"Magnus killed them," he answered, with a sad sigh, erasing the duck's smile with those words. He turned to him and noticed this. "Oh, come on. Now's not the time to be thinking about those things. I'm sure they're happy in Heaven now. They've been avenged, remember?"

"Yes, and like you said, now's not the time to be thinking about those things," I said, remembering our battle against Magnus's shadow. I could still feel a chill run down my spine as I recalled Ukyo's eyes as she had inexplicably turned into a blood-thirsty vampire and slaughtered Magnus in a horrific way.

Without saying anything else about the matter, we walked into a large square. There was hardly anyone there. Just about five people, I should think, and it seemed to me that they barely noticed us.

"Okay, first thing's first," Donald quacked. "Where can we find some food?"

"Maybe there are some stores around," Goofy said. "Let's go and find out."

"I'm with you," I agreed, feeling how my stomach's complaints grew louder. We resumed our walk through the square, but before we could go too far, four fellows caught up with us and blocked our path. "Eh?" I muttered, seeing that they had no intentions of letting us through.

One of them, their leader, apparently, had a long, sleeveless, white raincoat, dark pants and cool, black sneakers. He seemed to be pretty strong and athletic; in fact, his physique was very similar to that of Siegfried's. They were even the same height. He wore a black cap over his blonde hair and looked at us with fierce, blue eyes. The guy next to him was even taller and more muscular and his skin was darker. He wore a red T-shirt and comfortable dark pants, too, the number eight sewed next to his pockets. He had a prominent jaw and had a confident smile on his face. The third member of this gang was a girl. She wore a blue, sleeveless jacket, light blue shoes and yellow pants that left the lower part of her legs uncovered. She had a dry expression on her face and had silvery hair. The last one was a small being clad with a light blue jacket. He wore a big hat (one that seemed to have a strange face carved on it) which's point curled up into a squared spiral. He also had gloves on his hands and wore green pants. I can't describe his face exactly, because it was covered in shadows. We could only see his yellow eyes which, unlike the rest of his companions, seemed actually friendly... These guys seemed like they wanted trouble. They sure didn't know who they were messing with.

"Um, please excuse us?" I asked politely.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?" questioned the blonde guy with a very bossy attitude. I had just woken up and was not particularly in the mood for fighting anything that wasn't a Heartless.

"We came from the—" I started to reply, but, of course, one could always count with Donald...

"What do you care?" the duck hastily retorted.

"Yo, man! Be careful when talking to Seifer! He could beat you to the ground in a matter of seconds, you know?" the big fellow next to the leader of the gang – Seifer – quickly intervened.

"I'm in charge of this town," he added. "And I don't exactly like strangers that come here uninvited."

"Well, we're sorry. We didn't know you were the major..." Goofy innocently apologized.

"That's right, you should best pay your respects to Seifer, you know?" the big guy went on. "He's the strongest fighter around here, you know? He could beat all of you in less time than it takes to order a salty ice cream, you know?"

"Wow," Siegfried muttered, none too thrilled with the welcoming committee. "Your breath must be awful, with all that butt-kissing..."

"Touché!" cried Donald and they burst into laughter. I did my best not to even smile (even though Siegfried's remark had been incredibly accurate and funny), while Goofy sighed and shook his head. I guess he didn't want to fight, either.

"It's all right, Rajin," Seifer said, holding his friend, who seemed pretty eager to pound Siegfried and Donald into bits. "Listen, you've got ten seconds to leave before we mop the floor with you. You don't stand a chance, kids."

"Total annihilation," murmured the girl in a low, dry voice.

"You said it, Fuhin!" cried Rajin. "Like Seifer said, get out of here before we bust your skulls open, you know?"

"I know you're beginning to annoy me," Siegfried answered.

"Dude, calm down," I whispered to him, even though I knew there was hardly any way to avoid a fight now. "Listen, we don't want to battle you. But if you don't let us through, then we're going to have to show you what we're made of. And believe me: we're no pushovers."

"Have it your way, chump," said Seifer with a low laugh as he got a hold of his weapon and showed it at us: a rubber club. Wow, that was scary...

Naturally, neither of us unsheathed our weapons. I mean, I had the Keyblade, Goofy had his shield, Donald could use magic with his staff, and Siegfried had a Saracen sword, for crying out loud. Looking at each other, we all decided that the best way to get out of this would be through our fists. Our four rivals got on their guards and got ready to attack.

"Seifer! Seifer! Wait!" suddenly exclaimed a voice. We turned to it and saw a middle-aged man running toward us. Hopefully, he'd be able to get some sense into their heads. "Hold on, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to teach these punks a lesson," he replied, dryly.

"But wait, Seifer," the man said. "If you're going to fight against these guys, why not make it a Struggle Competition fight?" The guy's statement didn't make us the least happy: he wasn't helping at all. "It's just that, I'm still in awe, Seifer. You handled the tournament so well... you were unbeatable. I want to see you in action again!"

"Hmph," Seifer muttered. "Very well, then. We'll fight them in the next tournament, because right now, they probably won't be able to do a thing to us."

"You want to try us??" cried Donald, but luckily, the man interrupted him.

"Seifer's right. You should've seen him at the tournament. He won with so much ease... You'll have to do a lot of training if you want to stand a chance against him."

"You haven't even seen what we can do," Donald quacked. "You should wait until you see us in action!"

"No matter how strong you think you are, you punks can't stand a chance against us," Seifer assured. "We'll cut you a break now. We'll meet you at the tournament when you're ready. That way, we'll be able to give a good show, unless you last less than a minute on the battle... Which you probably won't anyway," and then, he turned his back on us and said: "Let's go, guys."

"Man, you were lucky Seifer decided to postpone the battle, you know?" Rajin said. "Otherwise, he would've beaten you so badly, you wouldn't have been able to sit in like a month."

"Were your parents related? Like, before they were married?" Siegfried asked, unable to contain a loud laugh. This time, I was incapable of restraining myself and I let out a chuckle. But Rajin paid little attention to Siegfried's insult and went after Seifer, following him closely.

"Losers," Fuhin muttered in her usual, cold, dry voice, and left too.

"You're the best, Seifer!" was all the strange, little guy said, before leaving us alone. The old man, who was obviously too impressed with Seifer's techniques (still unknown to us), followed them as well. No wonder Seifer was such a pain in the fanny: everyone in this place seemed to be his personal butt-kisser.

"What a dork!" Donald grumbled. "I bet that we could've used him as a piñata."

"Well, but we aren't here to pick any fights, Donald," Goofy said. "It's better that they left. I was in no mood for fighting."

"Aw, phooey."

"Okay, now that we've gotten the welcoming committee removed from the picture, you guys still want to find something to eat?" asked Siegfried.

"I haven't forgotten about my stomach," I replied.

"Well, in that case, let's get going. Let's just hope that the rest of the folks around here aren't complete jerks."

"Sadly, the first impression is always the most important," Donald sighed.

"Don't say that yet, Donald," Goofy said. "I bet there're some decent people in this place. I don't think that there isn't anyone here that doesn't like Seifer. He was very rude."

"Yeah. But enough said: let's look for that salty ice cream," I said, licking my lips in anticipation.

"What makes you so sure they sell it here?" Donald questioned.

"Because that Rajin guy mentioned it," I answered. "Come on, let's go look for it right away!"

There weren't many folks in the streets, so we weren't bothered by anyone anymore. We arrived to a small place hidden between a pair of buildings. It looked like a vagabond's house from outside. Yet we could hear guys' voices coming from inside of it. If they would've been Seifer and his gang, we wouldn't even have approached. However, something compelled me to go inside...

"Sora, where are you going?" asked Goofy as he saw me walking toward the little house.

"...I don't know," I managed to answer, without stopping. "It's just that I feel as if I know this place."

"What's that supposed to mean?" questioned Donald, confused. "Have you ever been here before?"

"Never in my life," I said. And so I stepped inside the house.

There were three boys inside the house and they didn't seem to be complete jackasses, like Seifer and company. One of them was a blonde guy with short, blonde hair who was just about my height. He wore a black T-shirt, a green vest, and camouflage pants. His eyes were light brown and seemed awfully familiar. There was another guy, just a bit shorter than the first and also a bit larger. He wore a black headband, had spiky, dark brown hair, and had a red shirt which read "Dog Street". His pants were blue, as were his sneakers. This guy also had brown eyes, only that his were darker than that of the blonde fellow. The last member of the little gang was a girl that wore the same style of pants Fuhin had. She had an orange blouse and long, dark brown hair. Her eyes were green, very similar to Aerith's. She was really cute. As we came in, they looked at us with mistrust.

"Who the hell are you?" asked the first guy in a defiant tone. "What are you doing here?"

"Jeez, is friendliness known in this town at all?" Siegfried grumbled.

"Hayner, please, let's listen to what they have to say first, don't be so aggressive," the other guy said. "Um, who are you guys? Are you with the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee?"

"The what?" Goofy muttered.

"You know, Seifer and the others."

"Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee?" Donald quacked. "I suppose that's how they call themselves. Bunch of bullies..."

"Oh, so you're not with them at all," the fellow laughed.

"We didn't exactly like them," I replied. "It seems there is someone in this town that has some common sense. Either way, I'm Sora," I said, offering a handshake.

"My name is Pence," the guy with the red shirt answered and, with a smile, shook my hand and my friends'.

"I'm Donald," said the duck.

"My name's Goofy. Nice to meet ya!" chuckled the knight.

"I'm Siegfried. It's a pleasure," our friend added.

"Hi, guys. I'm Olette. It's good to meet you," the girl said and shook our hands... she had a very good handshake, I have to say.

"Hayner," muttered the blonde guy and sat down in a couch and looked away from us. Oh, well. Two out of the three weren't jerks, it seemed. Either way, we tried not to pay attention to him anymore.

"So, this place is called Twilight Town?" I asked.

"Yeah. I suppose there's no need to ask if you're new here," giggled Olette. "At least you aren't friends with Seifer."

"That jackass? No way!" I laughed. "He was supposedly going to teach us a lesson... but luckily for him, this other guy came into the scene and told us to postpone the fight so we could battle each other in a... Struggle Competition?" I said, not too sure if that was the right name, to which they nodded their heads. "Well, if that guy wouldn't have gotten there, we would've taught them a good lesson."

"You wish," Hayner muttered, getting up from his seat and walking up to me. "Seifer is very strong. I tried to beat him in the tournament and he gave me the beating of a life time. What makes you think you would've done any better?" and with that said, he bumped my shoulder and left the house.

"Hayner!" Olette called, but he didn't turn around.

"What's his problem?" Donald asked, putting an angry expression on his face.

"Just leave him be," Pence replied. "I think he's angry because our vacations are over."

"Bummer..." I muttered.

"Well, he'll come to his senses soon. Believe me, he's not like that," Olette assured. "In the mean time, any of you guys want a salty ice cream? I still have some in the cooler..."

"Salty ice cream?" I exclaimed. "Oh, yeah! That'd be awesome!" and as I spoke these words, I became more confused with myself. Why the hell was I so excited about tasting one of those things? Had I even stuck my tongue into one? Ever?

"I see you like them," Olette giggled as she kneeled beside her cooler and opened it. There they were: those beautiful, blue Popsicles. She gave one to each of us and then started to lick one herself. I removed the plastic wrap and gave the first lick... Oh, the Glory!

"Wow, these things are excellent!" Siegfried said. "But they're really cold!"

"You're supposed to lick them, Siegfried, not bite chunks of them like that!" Donald laughed.

"Well Donald, you have to remember that Siegfried has never eaten ice cream before," Goofy chuckled.

"You've never eaten ice cream in your life??" Pence exclaimed in shock. "That's impossible! Where do you come from?"

"Let's just say there are no ice creams where I come from," he replied, as he began to lick his salty ice cream.

"That's terrible," Pence said. "Well, at least you now know what it's like."

"Thanks, guys. You're all right," I said, with a big smile.

"You too, Sora," Olette answered, smiling back. "Oh, I nearly forgot! Sora, there was someone looking for you earlier. He stopped by and asked about you. Actually, he was looking for all of you."

"Really?" I asked, gulping down the last bit of my salty ice cream. I ate it so fast that I got a brain-freeze... but guess how much I cared. "Well, who was that?" at that moment, I was still under the spell of the salty ice cream, so at first, I didn't realize that to have someone looking for us in that strange place was something unnatural.

"Well, he wore black clothing," Pence said. "He was very short... just about Donald's height."

"Hey!" Donald quacked, not too happy about the remark.

"Sorry..." Pence muttered, a chuckle escaping his lips. "Anyway, he had a weird sword with him and had big, round ears."

"Big round ears??" Goofy and Donald exclaimed at the same time. "THE KING!!"

"He was looking for us?" Siegfried cried. "But how did he get here?"

"Dude, we don't even know how we got here in the first place!" I answered. Then, I turned to Pence and Olette and quickly asked: "Which way did he go?"

"Um, he went to the train station..." Olette answered, confusion in her eyes. "It wasn't too long ago. You can catch up with him if you hurry. The train station is at the highest part of the town."

"We have to go, guys!" I yelled and all of them swallowed their ice creams as quickly as they could. I could see by the expressions on their faces that they got a major brain-freeze, but there was no time for me to laugh at them. "Olette, Pence, thanks a lot! I hope we'll see you soon!"

"...Sure!" they both replied as we rushed out of the house and started to run to the train station.

We quickly exited the guys' headquarters and ran up the streets, desperately seeking the train station. As we passed by, the people stared at us with puzzled expression: it was very clear that we were in a really big hurry. We barely studied the road as we ran uphill. I only managed to discern a couple of stores (which probably sold food, according to Murphy's Law), a post office, and some kids playing with what seemed to be a beach ball. The streets were narrow and the buildings about us barely let the sun come through. But they did let us see the train station right at the top of the town.

Who would've thought King Mickey would be in this place? All of us were shocked to hear the news and could give no logical explanation. After all, like I had told Siegfried, none of us knew how we had gotten there for starters. Perhaps he would offer us some answers... What was more, Riku might be with him. The thought of this fueled the speed of my legs as I ran uphill, the rest of my friends eagerly trying to catch up with me.

The train station was very big and welcoming, mostly because the view was beautiful. We could see the entire town from where we stood, bathed in the fading light of the sunset. I stopped for a moment to glimpse at the scenery: it was, as ridiculous as it may sound, a Kodak moment. Either way, we had to get moving. We had forgotten to ask how long it had been since King Mickey had asked about us. He might have very well left already.

"We have to find the King!" Donald pressed.

"He might be inside," Siegfried suggested. "Let's take a look."

"Right," I said and we all ran to the entrance.

Yet, before we could go too far, something stopped us. A group of strange figures appeared from the nothing. They all had the same white tone of clothes... or skin... whatever it was... with black linings here and there, which shone occasionally, as if electricity was traveling through them. Some of them had no face: just a chilling black void where it should be. They moved in a most strange way, as if all of them were made out of rubber, although they seemed as resilient as steel. And they all had a very strange marking on their heads... It seemed to be the upper part of a heart and a cross. God only knew what it represented, though it reminded me about the Heartless' crest.

I had never seen these beings before and yet I knew they were dangerous and I knew that they weren't here precisely to hit the breeze.

"Who the hell are--?" Siegfried stuttered, but before he could say another word, one of them threw a punch at his chest and knocked him down. Donald, Goofy, and I hastily drew our weapons, knowing that these creatures would surely pose much more of a threat than the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee and that they wouldn't stop with just giving us a good kick in the butt.

I used the Keyblade to knock down the foes in front of me and raced to help Siegfried. He was still not very skilled at fighting and I had to make sure he was okay. However, as I ran to him, the foe that had knocked him down stood in front of him and attacked him again, this time turning his fist into a blade. But surprisingly, Siegfried rapidly evaded the blow and the blade got stuck in the ground. He then kicked his opponent, knocking him down. Then, he leapt back on his feet and stabbed him before he could even move... Amazing! I knew his fighting style had improved with our last battles, but I didn't remember him being so fast and so skilled.

As a matter of fact, Goofy and Donald were doing pretty good themselves, for a couple of guys that had just woken up from a sleep that had lasted God know how much. The duck's spells were as terrible as ever: his lightning conjurations made short work of the enemies before him, while Goofy knocked down many foes with his sturdy shield. For my part, I felt as if I had just taken a nap. I swung the Keyblade from side to side and sliced every opponent that attacked me.

These guys, however, were tough nuts to crack. They were extremely slippery. They moved with the swiftness of the wind and the cunningness of a snake. They were very hard to hit. Additionally, they could turn, as I've said, turn their limbs into sharp objects, which could pierce a sturdy armor effortlessly. Every time I swung my blade at one, it slithered away from me. I had to chase to sidestep behind them so that they wouldn't get away.

Each time we killed one of those monsters, another one appeared out of thin air. We had to face other foes which looked like... how can I put it? Well, a pair of shoes. In the beginning, at least. Because when we got close in order to destroy them, they would turn into sharp objects and would try to cut us to pieces. Guillotines, axes... you name it. Moreover, another type of enemy appeared before us. It seemed to be a strange snake-like bird which could even travel through the floor. These guys didn't fly too high, but they moved just as quickly as their companions and could swoop at us with amazing speed and strength.

We all fought fiercely and bravely against the growing army. Each time we felt we were growing slightly weak, Donald would cast a healing spell upon us and the grip on our weapons grew. Goofy threw his shield at the enemies that were farthest away from us, knocking them down at the very least, although he almost always succeeded in obliterating them. His trusty weapon would bounce back to him without fail: I had no idea when he had developed such skill. My friends' skill truly impressed me. I can't emphasize how much Siegfried had surprised me. He lacked Link's skill with the blade and he most definitively wasn't half as strong as Wilheim. But he made up for this by fighting very intelligently. He quickly discovered his enemies' weak points and exploited them without fail. He was able to parry the attacks of his opponents and to strike back with a deadly blow before they could retaliate. For my part, I could even cast some magic spells. It seemed to me that the sleep had benefited me instead of turning me sluggish.

The enemies kept on growing and growing in number. Although we killed many, they began to drive us back. They managed to wound us once or twice with their blade-like limbs and their cunning sweeps. We ended up in the center of the place, backs to one another, surrounded by the army.

"These bastards are tough..." Siegfried muttered.

"Come on, guys," I mused, with a confident smile upon my face. "We've been in worse situations. We can easily get out of this one, don't you think?"

"You bet," Goofy assured.

"Piece of cake," Donald added.

The enemies closed in on us. We quickly counterattacked and killed many of them. The rest of the group kept its distance, studying the situation carefully. And before they could make a move, a golden shimmer blinded us for a moment and we had to turn our heads back.

We heard the sudden yells of our opponents as they turned into a mere whistle of the wind. When we looked again, they were all gone. They had all disappeared just as suddenly as they had ambushed us. All that remained was a short figure which wore a black cloak. He slowly turned to us and when we saw his eyes, we instantly knew who he was.

"King Mickey!!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed, overwhelmed by joy.

"Shhh!" the king immediately said, making us freeze where we were. "Get on the next train," he instructed. "You'll know where to get down." And with that said, he tossed a pouch at us. "There's money for your ride inside..."

"Whoa! Wait! Is that it?" Siegfried asked. "We've been looking for you... Aren't you going to say anything else?"

"Hey, King Mickey!" I called to him as he began to run to the direction from which we had come from. "HEY!!" we all shouted, but he didn't stop and soon he disappeared. "He's gone..."

I remained still and quiet for a few seconds, along with Siegfried, completely confused by what had just happened. Was he looking for us just to tell us that? It was unbelievable. And here I had thought that I would meet with Riku once again. I suppose there's no need to tell you that I was completely disappointed.

Nevertheless, in an instant, I heard rapid footsteps heading towards the train station. Goofy and Donald were just a few feet away form the main entrance.

"Hey!" I exclaimed. "What are you guys doing?"

"Didn't you hear what the king said?" replied Donald. "He told us to get onto the next train! That's what we're doing!"

"You guys should hurry up too," Goofy added. "We don't know when the train will be leaving so we might as well as buy the tickets right now."

Siegfried and I, still not entirely sure of what had just happened, looked at each other and let out a resigned sigh.

"The next train," we both said, shrugging, and caught up with the duck and the knight.

The ticket office was steps away from the entrance and beyond it, were the trains. There were about four platforms, each one had a train stopped, ready and waiting for passengers to climb onboard. The first train had absolutely nothing to do with the rest of them. Looking at it, I could've sworn it had been made out of the same materials used to build a Gummi ship. It was incredibly magical; its steel walls were painted with bright colors that looked like the glimmer of a constellation. It also had a blue, pointy part (which actually looked like a sorcerer's hat) that had stars and moons painted on it. Why was it so different from the other trains? I wondered...

Either way, we weren't there to start making guesses. I reached for my pocket and reached for the pouch King Mickey had given us. But right then, we heard a loud shout.

"HOLD ON!!"

We turned around and saw Hayner, Pence, and Olette running towards us. This time the first didn't seem to be angry at all. Rather, he had quite a kind and happy smile expression on his face.

"Hey, we made it," he said, as they all stopped and gasped for air. "Um, listen... Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Siegfried... I'm sorry I was such a jerk back there. You know, I was angry for some reason. But I don't want to give the wrong impression: I'm sure you're all good guys."

"Oh!" I muttered. "Ah, that's all right, Hayner. No worries, buddy."

"We came to see you guys off," Olette intervened.

"Really?" Siegfried asked. "Why is that?"

"I don't know. It just felt like the right thing to do..."

"Well, we all appreciate that much, don't we, guys?" Goofy said.

I have to say that for my part, I had mixed feelings. I was really happy that they had all come to see us off. I wouldn't have liked to without saying good-bye. And on the other hand, I was incredibly sad, because I didn't want to leave any of them. But why the heck was that? I mean, I had just met them... Why was I so emotional all of a sudden? It's something I can't even begin to explain. All I knew was that I felt like crying at any moment. All I could do was to struggle to keep my tears to myself.

"Okay, Sora... They're not going to give you squat if you don't spill the dough, man," Hayner said, with a smile, taking me out of my trance.

"Oh... right," I stuttered, putting my hand in my pocket. I could only hope that the little money that I had was worth something in that place. "Four tickets, please."

"Oh, wow!" Olette suddenly exclaimed and ran to me and grabbed my arm. She then reached into her pocket and took out a coin purse. Its fabric was orange and it had a big yellow star in the middle. There is a weird part to this, actually: her little pouch looked identical to the one King Mickey had given us.

"...Huh..." I mumbled, looking at it with a puzzled expression. "Who would've thought?"

"That's so cool!" Pence laughed.

"That is curious..." Hayner said, with a thoughtful stare. However, after a few moments of remaining silent, he shook his head and added: "Well, that's a funny coincidence, but you guys should buy the tickets now, because the train is going to leave very soon."

"He's right," Donald quacked. "Hurry up, Sora."

"Okay..." I muttered, feeling even more confused and heartbroken by this little surprise. You might say that I was exaggerating and it may have been true. But something deep inside my heart told me that this was more than a strange quirk. I cared for them. And as they walked us to the strange, magical train, I felt more and more depressed. My eyes stung: I really had to get onboard before I started to weep.

"ALL ABOARD!!" cried one of the train conductors and the vehicle began to hiss. It would undoubtedly leave in a few seconds.

"Come on, guys! Otherwise, you're going to be left behind!" Olette pressed and we all leapt onto one of the wagons. We stood at the door and waved them farewell. "Take care, guys! It was nice to know you all. I hope we get to see you again soon."

"I hope that too..." I mumbled, putting up a sad smile on my face. And then, I unavoidably shed one single tear. They all noticed this and responded by drawing the very same sad smirk that I had on their faces.

"Don't worry, Sora," Hayner said. "We'll meet again, dude. Until then, we'll save you a spot in our hideout."

"Thanks..."

"And you too, guys," he added, waving at Donald, Goofy, and Siegfried. "Have a safe journey."

"Take care, Hayner," Donald said. "Stay out of trouble."

"Say 'hi' to the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee for us," Siegfried said, and burst out in laughter as did they.

"We sure will," Pence said. "Bye!"

"Bye!" Goofy answered and right then, the doors shut.

The train began to move and we all took our seats. Donald and Goofy sat across Siegfried and me and they quickly looked out the window as the train left the station. The beautiful sunset bathed the vehicle as it swiftly traversed the town.

The duck and the knight seemed most amused by the pretty sky and the houses that surrounded the road and couldn't stop jabbering about it, but Siegfried was silent and I could feel his eyes upon me. I sighed and took a long, hard look at the pouch. I really wished we had had more time to be with those guys. I wondered if I would see any of them again. Thinking about not meeting them at all was like thinking that I wouldn't see Kairi or Riku in my life. Again, like I've said too many times already, I have no idea why this was happening to me. It was something I couldn't reason with my mind, but I sure as hell felt it with my heart. I put away the pouch and sighed again.

"It's so strange..." I muttered. "I'm really sad."

"Yeah, that's noticeable," Siegfried said calmly as the duck and the knight turned to face me. "Take it easy, Sora. We'll surely see them again, don't worry."

"I hope so," I answered.

There was a bit of silence for a few moments and Siegfried friendly rubbed my shoulder, letting me know that he and the others would be there for me no matter what. That made me feel a bit better.

The train kept on going running until at last, all the houses, plazas, and alleys were left behind. Before we even knew it, the Twilight Town we had known was gone: we had entered a new, small place where a magical tower rose high into the now nocturne sky. Its golden walls beckoned us forth as the train came to a complete stop. We looked at each other with puzzled eyes, not knowing what to do. Were we supposed to get down here?

"What should we do now?" asked Donald, looking outside the window.

"Um, I wonder if this is our stop..." Goofy muttered.

"It is," Siegfried assured, stepping out of the train and looking around. "Come out here and take a look," he added and pointed at the tracks. "See that? The tracks stop there."

"They what?" I muttered and went by Siegfried's side. "Well, what do you know..."

Indeed, the tracks only went on for a few more feet and then they vanished into thin air. Donald and Goofy went to our side and stared at this without knowing what to do. But we didn't have the time to think anything: the train doors shut and the vehicle started to move again, to the end of the line.

"Hey!" we all called yet, before our bewildered eyes, the train seemed to be absorbed by the night and soon disappeared, leaving us alone in front of that mighty tower.

"Okay, I say we find out who's living there," Donald said, seeing the way things were going. "I hope that this is the place that the king wanted us to visit."

"I'm sure it is," Goofy assured, taking a step forth. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Shrugging our shoulders, we decided to follow him. Questions would surely be best saved for later.

There were some bushes here and there, surrounding the tower. They were all very tall and thick, so it was difficult for us to see what was through them. And this time, I did feel that we needed to know what lay ahead, because I felt a very familiar presence which should've made me unhappy. But instead of that, I forgot about the sorrow that had haunted me and my heart began to pound excitedly...

We got past the bushes and saw a creature standing by the tower's door. It appeared to be a... very large cat. I mean, it was so fat it would be easier to hop him than to circle him, and he was very tall. Okay, that's a cruel description. But I'm serious! Anyway, he was wearing what seemed to be a red armor and was pressing his head against the front door. His face was... I can't say evil, really... more like mischievous. He had a big mouth, short ears, and large eyes with small, black pupils, and his body was covered with black fur. We approached him and startled him as I cleared my throat loudly, making him turn around to face us.

"What the devil?!" he stuttered.

"Oh, no!" Donald and Goofy cried. "Black Pete!!"

"Huh?" Siegfried and I muttered, and then I asked: "You know this guy?"

"Yeah," Goofy said. "The King banished him from our kingdom because he was a big troublemaker."

"Great. More jerks to deal with," Siegfried sighed.

"I didn't think I'd find you pipsqueaks in here," Pete said, taking a step toward us, confidence in his face. "But you're all too late. By this time, Yen Sid has probably been turned into a Heartless now."

"Yen Sid??" Donald and Goofy exclaimed.

"Um, who is Yen Sid?" I asked.

"Yen Sid is the greatest magician there's ever been, that's who he is," Donald answered. "He was King Mickey's master. He taught him everything he knows. That's why the King is so powerful!"

"As right as you may be, he's probably been turned into a Heartless at this point!" Pete went on. "There's no way he could drive back the force I sent to get him!"

"Heartless..." Siegfried murmured. "Now that I understand. I didn't think we'd be seeing them again so soon."

"It doesn't matter. Yen Sid can fight them off by himself," Donald assured. "But just to make sure, let's get there and clean the tower up. And you should best get out of the way if you don't want us to hurt you!"

"Ha!" Pete cackled. "Do you think you pipsqueaks are even a match for me? Why, with Yen Sid under my control, Maleficent and I will be able to take over the worlds in no time!"

We all looked at each other silently for a few seconds and then burst out in laughter.

"What's so funny??" he demanded, seemingly angry. I take it he didn't like us mocking him (well, on a second thought, who does?).

"I think you haven't heard the news..." I said. "Maleficent is gone. We beat her already."

"WHAT?!" the large cat shouted. He obviously wasn't expecting that.

"Yeah, she got her butt kicked by my brother," Siegfried added. "So, unless you want to be next, I suggest you get your fat self out of here, or else we're going to play a bit of soccer with you, even though you are a beach ball."

"Why you...!" our opponent grumbled, his fist trembling with rage, although he dared not to move to attack us. He was afraid: we could see it on his face. "I'll... why, I'll... HEARTLESS!!" he cowardly called and the enemies answered.

Before we knew it, we were surrounded by a platoon of Heartless. There were some flying foes, some soldier-like monsters, and, of course, little bug-like Heartless. We had fought all those types of Heartless in the past and we had crushed them. This time, I reckoned, wouldn't be any different. I was really excited to battle them again, even though that wasn't supposed to be happening...

"Whatever, coward!" Siegfried taunted. "Let's kill these guys... I think this won't take us longer than a minute."

"Be right with you, Pete," I chuckled as I spun the Keyblade. "Okay, punks: who's first in line?"

A few soldiers answered my challenge by throwing themselves at me with spinning kicks. I leapt into the air and slashed them as they flew underneath me. The rest of the Heartless quickly attacked.

Donald put into use some of his gravitational spells against the flying Heartless, who hastily fell to the ground, compressed by their own weight. Then, the duck finished them off by hitting their heads as hard as he could with his staff. While he did this, a few bugs tried to ambush him. Luckily, Goofy was watching his back. Before the little Heartless knew it, Goofy had squashed one of them with his shield. The others turned to him in alarm as he threw his weapon at one of them and hit him on the face, defeating him. The third one was slain by Siegfried, who quietly walked behind him and buried his sword in its head. A few flying enemies went after him and attempted to hold him and carry him into the air, leaving him helpless. Siegfried, however, wouldn't let this happen. He threw his legs at one of the enemies' necks and began to choke him, while he took advantage of the other as he grabbed his arms. Unable to carry him without the help of his companion, the Heartless dropped Siegfried back onto the ground. Our friend used the momentum he gained from the fall and slammed the other foe onto the ground, crushing his head. Before the other one could try something else, I scorched him with a fireball.

The battle went on steadily. We barely got hurt this time. Donald didn't even need to cast any healing spells. In a matter of minutes, we had ridden ourselves from the little group Black Pete had called to face us. And when there were no enemies left, we smiled at each other proudly and confidently.

"See what we can do to your lackeys, Pete...? Hey!!" I yelled. "Where did he go??" The distraction the Heartless had created had sufficed to keep us from keeping our eyes on Pete. He had successfully gotten away and there was no trace of him. "That coward!"

"Ah, don't worry about it, Sora," Siegfried said. "Something tells me we'll see him again."

"Yeah, but I wasn't exactly looking forward to a reunion with that guy, you know..."

"What are you waiting for, guys??" Donald called from the tower's entrance. "We have to get in there and help Yen Sid!"

"I thought you said he was powerful enough take care of himself," Siegfried replied.

"That doesn't matter!" the duck exclaimed. "Are you coming or not?!"

"We're coming, calm down," I said, bracing myself for another round with the Heartless.

"I wonder how many of them are in there..." Goofy muttered.

"Knowing the Heartless, they're probably swarming the place," Siegfried said. "It doesn't matter, though. We'll still kick their butts, eh?"

"Let's go!!" Donald pressed.

We entered the tower and faced a spiral stair which led to yet another door. Without hesitation, we ran up and entered the other room. This new place was very different from the last stance: the stairs wound up, forming a single curve. Yet what had once been an enclosed staircase seemed to have no walls. The room seemed to have no boundaries. If one looked closely, though, one would be able to discern the walls of the tower far away, hidden by a black mist. However, said haze was all but fearsome: its essence belonged to the magic of the place. And right before us, stood our opponents. A small group of Heartless charged at us fearlessly and we replied to their aggression by quickly defeating all of them.

Donald used his lightning incantations to shock the aerial Heartless; Goofy smashed the little ones with his shield; Siegfried smartly found the weak spots of the soldiers' armors and pierced through them with his sword, while I fought fiercely and cut all my enemies with powerful swings of my Keyblade. This time, it took us even less time to get rid of the opposing force. Given, they were fewer than last time, yet they still turned out to be pathetic opponents. Once victory was ours, we ran up the stairs and entered yet another room.

This stance was just a big, circular room with some vases placed on the perimeter. There were some Heartless in this room too, and this time we were greeted by some of our old friends, the big, fat Heartless. These guys gave up a more challenging fight than their companions, but we still brought them down pretty easily. Siegfried grabbed a vase and slammed it against the ground, breaking it into bits. Then, he picked up some of the pieces that lay on the ground and tossed them at one of the big Heartless' faces. Hitting it on one of its eyes, the enemy desperately tried to remove the fragment from his unseen skin. Meanwhile, our friend ran up behind him and stabbed him on the back, where no armor protected him. Donald didn't need to create a distraction to destroy these foes: he cast some fierce icy spells which rendered the Heartless immobile for a few seconds. That was enough for him to get around them and scorch them with fire incantations. Goofy skillfully blocked the fat enemies' charges, knocking them to the ground. Once they were there, they were completely open for an attack: this is where I came in. While they lay flat on their backs, I leapt at them with a powerful thrust aimed at their heads. I was very accurate and didn't miss my mark a single time. Though they were resilient and did hurt us a couple of times with their powerful swinging fists, we pretty much beat the snout out of them. When the room was free of Heartless, we opened the new door that was ahead and face another set of stairs.

We continued running up the stairs and entering round rooms and defeating Heartless. The road to the top seemed endless.

"Heartless, heartless, heartless!!" bitterly complained Donald after we had successfully defeated yet another group of these enemies. "I don't get it. We supposedly beat them last time! Why are they still here? And why are there still so many of them?"

"That is a good question..." I muttered. "I suppose we'll have to ask this Yen Sid. Perhaps he knows the answer."

"Yeah, you're right," the duck said. "I bet he knows. He knows pretty much everything."

"You really admire him, don't you?" asked Siegfried.

"Of course! He's the best magician there is! Wouldn't you admire someone like that?"

"Easy, easy, I'm just making an observation. You don't have to get angry."

"Come on, fellas," Goofy intervened. "Let's pick up the pace. I bet we're near the top."

I sure hoped he was right, because I was beginning to grow tired. I really felt that I needed something to eat. That salty ice cream had only stalled my hunger for a little bit. Either way, there was no use thinking about that now. We had to get to the top of the tower, were Yen Sid surely dwelled, and get rid of the rest of the Heartless that stormed the place.

It took us a little while longer to reach the apex of the tower, but we finally succeeded in getting to the very top. The room of the master of the place lay behind a big door which was much more ostentatious than the ones we had seen thus far. We stepped into the stance and Donald and Goofy quickly stood firm.

The place only had a few bookshelves and chests. Their contents were unknown to us. There was not much else. In front of us, however, was a big, square table made out of wood. On it laid a skull and a candle. Sitting on a grand chair, was the lord of the tower, Master Yen Sid, I supposed. He was a tall, old man with a stern glance. He had a long, gray beard and had a few wrinkles on his face. He wore a blue tunic and a big, pointy blue hat, decorated with stars and a crescent (or waning, I wouldn't know) moon. Despite the severe expression he had on his face, his eyes revealed immense wisdom and power...

"Master Yen Sid! It's an honor!" Donald quacked respectfully and bowed, as did Goofy, who kept silent and low to the ground.

Siegfried and I looked at each other and shrugged. Before any of our friends could say or do anything, we both waved at the man and said: "Hiya!"

"Sora! Siegfried!" Donald quickly said. "Show some respect! You're embarrassing me!"

At that moment, Siegfried silently turned to me with a hilarious look in his eyes, as if he was dying to say: "Dear Lord, Donald is embarrassed of us!" I felt the same way, but out of pure esteem for our friends, I decided to keep my laughs to myself.

Yen Sid waved his hands silently, motioning us to remain calm. There was a moment of silence and so at last he said, in a grave voice: "So, you are Sora..." to which I nodded as respectfully as I could. "Have you seen the King yet?"

"Yeah, but we didn't have time to say anything to him, Master," Goofy replied. "He just bolted off. He did say to us that we should come here, though..."

"I see. It does not surprise me, for the King has been quite busy of late," the wise man replied. "I suppose, then, that the task of instructing you four lies upon my shoulders now,"

"Instructing us?" Siegfried blurted, yet then he rapidly regained his composure and asked reverently: "What sort of instruction would you provide us with, sir?"

"I am afraid I cannot offer you much more than advice and equipment for your journey," Yen Sid answered. "Yet I do not doubt that this will suffice to aid you in your quest. After all, you must be well prepared to face the dangers that lay ahead."

"I see," I muttered. "Master, excuse me, sir... I have a question: do you, by any chance, would know what happened to my friends, Riku and Kairi? I'd also like to get a chance to go back to my islands, if you would be so kind..."

"I cannot grant you a wish such as that, Sora, for there are many things you still must do. Everything in your journey is connected: you might return to the Islands alone or with your friend... your home might be no more... and these things are all connected by you, Sora. You have the key: you are the one who will open the door to the light."

"The key...?" I muttered, glancing at my Keyblade. With a sigh, I resigned myself to my fate. Whatever it may be, though, I still had my friends beside me, and that gave me the courage to go on. Either way, I couldn't complain much: the thought of meeting with my other old friends excited me very much.

"This book..." Yen Sid said, waving his hand over the table in order to make a book appear from the nothing. "Contains valuable knowledge for your journey. I suggest you study it carefully."

"Books are always very welcomed," Siegfried said, taking the book and putting it into the bag, along with the others he had... 'borrowed' from the mansion. "Thank you, Master."

"Now then," the wise man said. "Let us talk about the enemies that you will surely face."

"Yeah, about that..." I said. "I'm sort of curious. What's up with the Heartless? I thought we had stopped them for good. Still, it didn't puzzle me much to fight against them once more. Why is that?"

"While your past endeavors did prevent an immense effusion of Heartless from the great darkness, I am afraid it is not that simple. For the Heartless are darkness made real, and darkness always lingers in every heart, even if it is but a small shadow. As long as there is darkness in a single heart, the Heartless will be very difficult to eradicate," Yen Sid explained.

"Great," Siegfried muttered. "That means those guys are like cockroaches... They could outlive us all."

"Well, actually," Goofy intervened. "If every heart was full of light, then that means the Heartless would go away."

"Yes, that is true," Yen Sid said. "Now, then, let us speak about your foes," he waved his finger at a corner of the room and a flash of light took place. Once the light receded, we all distinguished a figure that looked exactly like Donald.

"...That's me," the duck mumbled. Then, suddenly, the image changed and the figure turned into a bug-like Heartless. We all raised our guards, yet quickly dropped them as we realized this was just an illusion Yen Sid had created to better explain himself.

"Yes," the man said. "If the heart of one such as you, Donald, yields to the darkness within, he or she will become a Heartless. But you already know this."

"I guess..." we all answered.

"The Heartless always lurk in the dark and are always in the search of new hearts, for they hunger that which they lack. Do not let your hearts down, lest you want to be taken by the infinite darkness. But there is more to tell..." with another movement of his hand, another flash of light blinded us for an instant. This time, the light uncovered another being which looked exactly like the ones we had fought when we had seen King Mickey at the train station.

"It's one of them..." Siegfried murmured.

"Allow me to explain," Yen Sid said. "If someone with a strong heart and will – be they evil or good – turns into a Heartless, from time to time, the empty shell they leave behind begins to act with a will of its own."

"...That's really creepy," I whispered to myself and gulped as the image of the Heartless.

"It is an empty vessel whose heart has been stolen away. It is a spirit that goes on as its body fades from existence. For, you see, Nobodies do not truly exist."

"Nobodies?" we all asked.

"Yes," the man answered. "Nobodies seem to have feelings, but this is a ruse: they only pretend to have hearts. Do not let them deceive you."

"Nobodies..." I said in a low voice and all of a sudden felt another déjà-vu... as if I had said this word not too long ago. "So they don't truly exist..." Before I could say another word, a small group of those creatures appeared behind us. Startled, we leapt back and unsheathed our weapons once again, yet we soon comprehended that those guys were just another bunch of illusions Yen Sid created.

"The being that stands before you is a Dusk," he explained. "It is the most common form of Nobody. On your journey, you will encounter an alarming number of Dusks, as well as other creatures which you must face with extreme caution."

"Yeah, these Nobodies are no pushovers," Goofy said.

"Some Nobodies are larger and some others have unique and terrible powers. You must be vigilant. Still, they are only empty shells, destined to return to the darkness from whence they came," he made a small pause and then added: "The same, however, cannot be said about the beings I will now tell you about."

He waved his hand yet another time and the Dusks vanished. Where they had once stood, appeared another sort of illusions. They seemed to have the bodies of men, but we couldn't see anything about them: their arms, legs, and face were all hiding below a black cloak and their eyes lay behind a curtain of shadows. They seemed quite powerful, and these were just mere images.

"The beings before you are powerful Nobodies which have formed a group called 'Organization XIII'," Yen Sid said. "They have utter control over the rest of the Nobodies."

"Organization XIII?" I mumbled. The day was getting weirder and weirder. I could've sworn I had heard that name before, but couldn't remember when I had listened to it. I turned to my friends, asking them with my glance if any of them knew what Yen Sid talked about. They all looked as puzzled as I was.

"The Heartless act on instinct, as you no doubt have already learnt," he said. "Nobodies do not. They are quite intelligent: they plan and think logically and they work towards a goal."

"Which is probably to beat us..." Donald grumbled.

"We do not know," the wise man replied. "All that we know is that the King sensed the danger ahead; he found the Keyblade of the dark realm and closed the door. Even as we speak, he goes from world to world, defeating Heartless and struggling to find the answer to the riddle of the Nobodies and Organization XIII," as he pronounced these last words, his illusions finally faded.

"Well, in that case, I suppose we should go look for the King in the first place," I suggested. "He probably also knows were Riku is. I mean, after all, they were in the same place once we closed the door after we beat Ansem."

"Yeah... but were could he have run off to?" Donald asked himself.

"We won't know until we look," Goofy replied. "Cheer up, Donald. I'm sure we'll find him."

"Before you go, we must present you with more suitable traveling clothes," Yen Sid said, his eyes fixed upon me. And there I was beginning to think that I would get through they day without having someone telling me how ridiculous I looked in those clothes, besides Goofy, Donald, and Siegfried. "Behind that door..." he went on, pointing at a large door which lay at our right. Funny how I hadn't noticed it until right then. "Dwell three good fairies. They will give you appropriate garments and will provide you with some equipment you will, I am sure, find most welcome."

"Ah, I see..." I chuckled with an embarrassed smile. "Well, we appreciate your help very much, Master Yen Sid... Um, excuse us for a second..." and so I went to the door and hastily entered the other room.

There was a lot of furniture in this room. A closet, a mirror, some chairs... Its shape was round and it had a carpet on the center. It was actually pretty cozy, pretty welcoming. Nothing like Yen Sid's stance... Anyway, like he had said, there were three fairies in there. I was expecting to see fairies of Tinkerbell or Tish's size, but these women were just about Donald's height. They all wore the same clothes, but the colors of their dresses were different: the tallest of them wore a red one; the color of the dress of the skinniest one was green, and the shortest had blue clothing. They all kind faces and smiled welcomingly when they saw us.

"Welcome, dears," The red fairy said. "Master Yen Sid told us that you would come. Please, make yourselves at home, if only for a little while. My name is Flora."

"I am Fauna," added the green fairy. "Delighted to meet you.

"And I am Merryweather," said the last fairy. "Now dear, it seems that you need a bit of help with your traveling clothes, wouldn't you say?"

"Um, I suppose so..." I answered. "These ones are a little bit short now..."

"Oh, not to worry, dear boy," said Flora. "We shall take care of that in a jiffy."

"I'll do the designing," Fauna declared and pointed her magic wand at me. A spark of magic came from it and crashed against my clothes, turning them into a whole new set: they were very similar to my other attire, but these new clothes looked much cooler. My pants were now bigger and covered most of my legs. I also had a pair of large bags by my legs. Everything else was about the same, only that cooler looking. I can't really tell why... those clothes made me look older and more powerful... Except for the horrible fact that everything was green. I mean, what the hell was that? I looked like a damn shrub, for crying out loud!

"Hmph!" mumbled Merryweather. "That will never do!" pointing her wand at me, she shot the same type of magical light and changed the color of my clothes to a blue tone. It wasn't as bad as the green one, but I still looked very stupid. You could say they had turned me into some kind of over-grown Smurf. And I'm sure Donald, Goofy, and Siegfried thought about this, because when I turned to see them, they were all trying real hard not to burst out in laughter. Why was I the only one getting tortured?

"Now, now, dears..." softly said Flora and waved her wand at me. This time they had gone too far: my attire had changed into a pink color. PINK! I mean, they could've given me a tutu and it wouldn't have made much difference... Well, that's a lie: I would've been humiliated for the rest of my life. With those clothes, I just felt my ridicule would end as soon as we left the tower.

The three of them began to fight and started to shoot magical spells at me, changing my clothes from green to pink to blue over and over again. My friends were having the time of their stupid lives: they had been unable to keep quiet and were seconds away from rolling in the ground in laughter. Moreover, the fairies were too busy bickering amongst themselves to pay attention to those wise guys.

"Blue!!" cried Merryweather.

"Green!!" yelled Fauna.

"Pink!!" exclaimed Flora.

At last, I couldn't stand it anymore and I let out a sigh of desperation, followed by a loud plea: "Would you please make up your minds??"

"Oh!" they suddenly muttered and became quiet. Looking at each other, they gave a nod and took a deep breath. "All right, dears..." Flora said. "Let's do it together," and so the three of them shot their magic at me. I could do nothing but to shut my eyes and hold my breath, dreading what they might do to me now...

"...Wow," my friends suddenly mused, and then Donald added: "Now, that's more like it."

I quickly opened my eyes and glanced at my clothes. Not bad. Not the least bad at all. The fairies had finally chosen a suitable color: black. But not absolutely everything was black: I had some yellow straps here and there and some parts of my attire had turned red. They looked really cool now. I smiled and let out a chuckle.

"He does look very dashing, doesn't he?" Merryweather said. I know she meant well, yet that only caused my friends to chuckle a bit more.

"Yes, he does..." the other two agreed. Then, Flora took a step forth and explained: "These aren't normal clothes, dear. We have bestowed magical powers upon them. You just need to concentrate and you will find incredible strength within them."

"Whoa! Really?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "But you must be careful when recurring to such power. It consumes much of your energy and if you employ it haphazardly, you will be left without stamina and you'll be at the mercy of the enemy. With time, you'll get used to your power and you will be able to use it more forgivingly."

"Oh, moreover, Sora," Merryweather added. "Be careful about letting your emotions take control over you. You might turn into something unearthly..."

"Wait... so that means if I lose my cool I'll turn into some kind of monster forever?" I questioned.

"Well, not precisely, dear," Fauna said. "You will still be in control of yourself, but your physical form might change and we do not know what consequences might come with that. Still, don't you worry, dear. You will return to your old self once you have calmed yourself down."

"...Well, in that case, I guess I'll have to be extra careful with my feelings," I said. "Well, Flora, Fauna, Merryweather: thank you. I really appreciate the help."

"You are welcome, dear," Flora said. "Now, it seems that Donald and Goofy are all set up and ready to go..."

"Aw, we get no pretty presents?" Donald quacked.

"There is nothing we can give you, dears," Fauna said. "We do, however, have something that might come in handy for you, Siegfried."

"Well, thank you very much," said Siegfried, taking a step forth. "What is it?"

"Here," said Flora and waved her wand. Siegfried's Saracen sword changed into a long, two-handed blade and a big, round, sturdy shield appeared on his back. The sword radiated with a white light and seemed pretty light: he only needed one hand to carry it. Marveled, our friend swung it back and forth skillfully. Merryweather then provided him with a blue sheathe and Siegfried hastily put his weapon away. "As you can see, this blade is very powerful," Flora said. "You do not need much strength to use it and it will cut through the hardest armor. Still, I'm afraid we can't reproduce the power of the Keyblade and you cannot conjure any spells with it... Your shield is very sturdy and will protect you from many dark spells. We still feel, however, that you should let Goofy take care of the more powerful conjurations, because his shield is blessed with the power of his King and Queen, making it extremely resilient."

"I understand," Siegfried replied, "Either way, this is much more than I could've possibly expected. Thank you very much!"

"Now go, dears," Fauna said. "Master Yen Sid still has something to give to you."

"Okay. Thanks again, ladies." I said and then my friends and I left the room, waving farewell at the kind fairies. Even though Donald and Goofy didn't get anything from them, they seemed pretty happy for us, because we had gotten such wonderful weapons. Still, I couldn't help but to think about what the fairies had said about my clothes... I was both curious and scared at what might happen when I unleashed my power and my feelings.

Be that as it may, I had no time to think about it. Yen Sid stood by one of his windows and beckoned us forth. We stood by his side and looked outside the window and when we did this, we leapt back in pleasant surprise: our Gummi ship was waiting for us outside. Not only that, it was much bigger than what I remembered and had lots of stuff on it. Weapons, shields, radars... you name it. It was a much more advanced version of our old, um, 'party van'.

"Wow!" we all exclaimed, and then I added: "Our Gummi ship! That's great! Come on, let's get going!"

"Now, now, just a moment," Yen Sid said, stopping me in my tracks.

"Oh, sorry..." I hastily apologized, my face blushing.

"As you may see, I have taken the liberty to provide you with many new weapons and items for your old ship," he went on. "I have also presented you with supplies. I know that you are weary and need some rest and also need to eat and drink. The Gummi ship will be a good shelter, make no mistake about that."

"Thank you very much, Master!" Donald quacked happily. Indeed, our stomachs appreciated the favor.

"Most importantly, however..." the wise man said. "Because of your previous endeavors, the worlds have returned to their original states. This means that the paths between them have disappeared."

"Huh?" the duck muttered, seemingly disappointed. "That's so terrible! How will we get around?"

"If that's true, then what good will do us to have the Gummi ship?" Siegfried questioned.

"Do not fear," Yen Sid explained. "If what the King suspected proves to be true, then the worlds will have prepared new pathways along which you may travel," he let out a sigh and added: "How these pathways are opened, though, I am afraid I do not know. However..." he said, turning to me, "I am sure that the Keyblade will serve you as your guide. You must use it to unlock them."

"I bet it's just like locking a keyhole," Goofy said. "Then there's nothing to worry about, Sora. We'll get through."

"Yes. Though the worlds may seem apart and out of reach, they nonetheless remain connected by invisible ties... as do our hearts."

"Yeah, our hearts are connected..." I mumbled. "I remember that. It's not something I would ever forget: our friends..."

"That is correct," Yen Sid said. "But be warned: while you will be traveling through space from world to world, the Heartless and the Nobodies will be using pathways of their own to invade the worlds: corridors of darkness unknown to everyone but to their malice. They will try to link said corridors to the gateways between the worlds."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Donald grumbled.

"No worries," Siegfried said. "We'll beat them again and again and again, like we did last time. There's nothing to worry about as long as we're together."

"You're right, Siegfried," Goofy chuckled.

Yen Sid smiled and let out a sigh.

"Now then," he said. "That is all the information I can give you. Go forth, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Siegfried. May you bring swift light to the troubled worlds."

"We will, Master," Donald assured. He and Goofy then stood firm, as if they were corporals facing a sergeant. After all the help he had provided us with, I felt compelled to do as they. Siegfried also mimicked us, but I could see in his face that he thought this a childish exercise. Oh, well... his loss.

"We sure do appreciate the help," Goofy added.

"Let's go, guys," I said. "Thank you very much, Master. We'll be seeing you!" and so we bolted of the now empty tower and boarded the Gummi ship. Turning to the window where Master Yen Sid had stood, we noticed that he was already gone and was nowhere to be seen. With that, we said our good-byes to Twilight Town and lifted up into space.

_(Change of scene)_

"Sora, what are you doing?" asked Siegfried as he walked to me.

We had flown for over two hours and were pretty tired now. We thought it would've been nice to get to a world and then take a break... but we had forgotten how long the space travels could be. Hungry and tired as we were, we had begun to get pretty grouchy and had decided to take a break to sleep and eat. While the ship was stationed and safely camouflaged (a great gift from Yen Sid for when the ship was static), Goofy, Donald, and Siegfried had gone to get some food. For my part, I was taking a look at the book Yen Sid had presented us with...

"I'm trying to read this," I answered.

"'Trying'?" Siegfried said, raising an eyebrow. "Sora, you read or you don't, it's that simple."

"No, it's not," I said. "This thing is extremely confusing. See, I already made it through the first few pages and I understood them. It says something about meetings and departures... You know, I can relate that to what we went through in the past. But the following chapters are too baffling. I can't understand them."

"Ah, I see," he said and sat next to me. He took the book from me and closed it.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, but he simply put a smile in his face and replied:

"You're tired, Sora. We all are. Let's just eat and then sleep it off. Though we just woke up from our dream, we had a full day. Getting out of that mansion, meeting up with the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee, fighting against the Heartless and the Nobodies, and then Yen Sid's explanations... we shouldn't be blamed if we're tired."

"Don't forget about Hayner and the others."

"Of course I'm not forgetting, but that was a relaxing moment, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," I chuckled, realizing that it would be best to do as he said.

"You know, back when Wilheim and I lived at Master Gerard and Miss Anne's house, it was really rare to be able to rest," he commented. "The only day in which we could take a break was on Sunday and, if we were lucky, some times on Saturdays. Those were great moments. Back then, Wilheim and I could barely read. Our parents schooled us during the entire week, and that meant a lot of reading. During those days, we would just lie down on the grass and take a nap or talk about unimportant stuff. When we had enough energy, we would wrestle or something like that... It was really nice. It was not until we became vampires that I looked up to reading books as a hobby. Now that's what relaxes me."

"Well, what do you mean, then?" I asked. "Are you going to read it?"

"Hell, no," he laughed. "Because when I read books in order to relax, they have nothing to do with work. We're on a quest, Sora, and this book is work for you. You have to rest up: I'm sure that you'll easily understand its content later."

"I get it now," I chuckled. "That's a good advice, Siegfried."

At that moment, Donald and Goofy brought in the food: sandwiches. We quickly started to eat up and barely said anything else about what had happened during the day. Rather, we spent the entire meal remembering our old friends and telling to each other how we yearned to meet with them again. We missed them all... Cloud, Tifa, Link, Aeris, Leon, Ryu, Ken, Felicia, Adrian, Demean, Shiryu, Shun, Tish, Merryck, Octavius, Camille... so many of them. You know, to say that there's no way you could count your real friends with just ten fingers is really gratifying.

After that, we fell asleep for many hours. I dreamt about many things... about my friends, about our enemies... and about some people that I had never seen before in my life. Why did those guys, whoever they were, appeared on my dreams? I do not know. Even so, I felt as if I knew them...


	3. Chapter 2: Friends and Enemies

Hey, again. Didn't think I'd be back so soon, did ya? XD

Well, here's the second chapter. And, before we begin, I'd like to disclaim more characters: some of the ones appearing from now on belong to Sammy Studios. Only two appear on this chapter, but I disclaim all of them now so I don't have to be doing it every time someone new makes an appearance :P

Anyway, enjoy:)

_Chapter Two: Friends and Enemies – Old and New_

_Narrator: Ukyo_

"Baby, get over here! Dinner's ready... Oh, there you are," I giggled happily as Wilheim approached from behind and tickled my belly playfully, kissing my cheek lovingly.

"It looks delicious," he said, licking his lips. "I'm glad it is ready. I'm starving, my dearest."

"Honey, you're like a dog – you're always hungry," I joked.

It had been nearly six months since we had returned from our fantastic journey. We had emerged victorious from our quest and for that, Wilheim and I had been enjoying our peaceful time together. And you know what? Every day that passed, we fell more and more in love with each other.

My life had gone back to being the way it was before the whole mess with the Heartless happened: except that now I had my baby by my side. I still went to school and I still managed my own restaurant. But that didn't mean that Wilheim had been sitting all that time in a bean-bag in my apartment, scratching his belly-button and watching T. V. Hell, I wouldn't have allowed it in the first place.

For starters, since Wilheim and I had been living together, I had delegated him all the house chores. I was busy cooking and handling my restaurant and studying. He was in charge of making the bed, washing the dishes, doing the laundry... you know, all that stuff. I'm sure he didn't enjoy it the least, but he had to put in his grain of sand. He was busy doing other stuff, too.

Even if Wilheim didn't attend school, that doesn't mean he didn't study at all. I usually brought him back books from the school library so he could read them and learn some stuff. And he was a very fast learner, despite what Siegfried had repeatedly said about his intellect. We soon discovered that Wilheim had a natural talent for math and he constantly helped me when doing calculations for my business. Not only that, he had become quite fascinated with computers of late. Who would've thought that Wilheim, the vampire reborn as a human, the strong Wilheim who had fought against dark and terrible foes, would become a computer nerd?

Indeed, he had learnt many things about computers. Whenever I returned home from school, he would be taking some sort of tutorial to improve his skills. He had even hacked into a couple of important places (hacked, not cracked – a terminological difference Wilheim explained me) and he was developing quite an interest for graphic computing, even though he didn't know much about it. I suggested him that he should get a high-school diploma – he had the necessary knowledge to pull it off – and study Computer Engineering. He had been fascinated with the idea.

Wilheim had acquired much knowledge in the past few months and I was very proud of him. Yet I must clarify: although he had become a computer nerd, he hadn't changed much. He still loved to read a good book unrelated to school. He managed to read about four books per month and he loved to read some tales to me, although I personally liked it better when he told me bits and pieces about his adventures as a vampire.

His speech had slightly changed: he still spoke like a Knight of the Templar – something I adored in him – but he had begun to use contractions every now and then (that means he now usually said 'I'm' instead of 'I am', for instance). I didn't care how he talked, but it made me happy to find this change in him: Siegfried had once told me that, when he and Wilheim had traversed the earth together as vampires, he would only employ that romantic speech when he was feeling extreme anger, fear, or sadness. I think that he was very happy by my side and for that, he had begun to speak like a little more like a normal person. Nevertheless, I emphasize that his speech still was, as I often told him, very funny.

Aside from that, we practiced our fighting skills every day. Once I closed my restaurant, where Wilheim would often help me by tending to customers when I was too busy, we would go to the roof and spar a little. We had taught each other how to fight with each other's weapons as well. He didn't have to teach me much, because I had used Renamark when he had given his life to save me. He, on the other hand, had a bit of trouble getting used to carry my giant spatula. I taught him to think of it as if it were a halberd or a naginata. In a matter of months, we knew our way around each other's weapons perfectly. Moreover, every Friday we would visit Ranma and Akane and would spar with them, Ryoga, and Sakura. I suppose I must brag about this: our battles against the Heartless had made me very strong. So strong, in fact, that I had even surpassed Ranma (which he didn't like the least). To be honest, I think that Wilheim and I were up to par, even though we were different in our own fighting styles. My baby had always favored brute strength and resilience and for that, he was a little slow and not very agile. I was the exact opposite. I was very quick and nimble (although not as much as our old friend Felicia, I would reckon), and could land a flurry of punches and kicks in an instant. Still, he could bring down a wall with just one attack...

And that's the way it had been for the last six moths. Of course, we wouldn't have been able to pull all of that if it wouldn't have been for Wilheim's friends: the vampires. Once they had learned (by Demean, Tish, and Adrian I should think) that he had revived, they had started to send us money every month. And let me tell you something: with the amounts of cash they gave us, I could've given myself the luxury of shutting down my restaurant to stay home all day and to have Wilheim massage my feet. But since I love to cook, that was out of the question. Indeed, the contributions (let's call them that) of the vampires were very generous. So much that, in fact, Wilheim could afford the luxury to buy himself a laptop. I suppose there's no need to tell you how happy that made him. However, Wilheim had the somewhat annoying tendency to listen to his music while working on it as loud as the speakers allowed him to. So at that point, I was pretty much sick of Rammstein, his favorite rock group. I didn't mind when he put on classical music, though, or Sting or Era or stuff of the sort...

Well, anyway, recently, something very strange had happened to us. We had completely forgotten Sora and all of the friends we had met during our travels alongside him. What was worse, Wilheim had even forgotten about Siegfried. The weird thing is we still recognized ourselves during that time and we remembered the battle against Magnus. But the war against the Heartless... it was completely erased by our minds. I had even dreamt about Sora without remembering who he was and that I had fought by his side. Ranma, Akane, Ryoga, and Sakura had forgotten about him as well. Speaking about that, we didn't recall the latter at all. Not even Ryoga, who was supposed to be her boyfriend, had memory of her when this strange incident took place. Wilheim still remembered Demean and Camille, but he didn't remember Tish or Merryck or Octavius. He didn't even know how he had gotten his humanity back and nor did I.

Yet one good day it all came back to us. What happened, I can't really tell. Whatever it had been, though, it was over and we all remembered our adventures with Sora, Donald, and Goofy. We recalled our friends – those that had returned with us to this world and those that had not – and had begun to miss them very much. Coincidently, we suddenly received letters from some of them – just about the same time it had all come back to our minds. Demean, Tish, Merryck, and Adrian wrote to us, saying they would come by to visit Wilheim and I soon. We received e-mails from Ken, who also wished to meet with us shortly. I supposed that he would bring Ryu along. Camille had also written a pair of letters, wishing to know how we had been doing and asking some... uncomfortable questions. But instead of feeling prickly by her words, I chose to laugh it off. I loved her just the way she was. We had had no word from Octavius, Morrigan, Felicia, or the saints. What could've become of them? I wondered...

But that day, I chose not to think about them with a troubled heart. Rather, I told to myself that I would see them again soon and would have a great time with them: especially with Sora. I think he's the one I missed the most. Needless to say, Wilheim was extremely excited about the idea of seeing Siegfried again. Because, we had learned, from Demean in one of his letters, that Gabrielle had come to him, and she had told him that Siegfried was still alive and well, and was alongside Sora, Donald, and Goofy. I can't even begin to describe how happy Wilheim became when he read the letter... How he longed to be reunited with his younger brother.

That moment, however, was just ours. Like I've said, it had been six months since our adventure had come to an end and because of that, it had also been six months since Wilheim had moved in with me. Naturally, we were celebrating.

My baby sat at the table he had prepared for us and impatiently waited for me to bring him his food.

"Okay, here it comes..." I said and gave him his portion of spaghetti. What? Did you think I could only cook Okonomiyaki? It might be my specialty, but that doesn't mean I can't prepare any other kind of meal (given, spaghetti is easy to do, yet I can make lots of other different stuff, believe me). "Bon appetite, honey."

"It smells delicious!" he exclaimed. I could hear his stomach grumbling from my seat. "I promise I will take small bites."

"Tell that to somebody who believes you," I giggled. Indeed, Wilheim was utterly unable to eat up his food in tiny chunks and so it had been as long as I had known him (when he had changed back into a human, that is). "Okay, and here's my portion. So, any words before we begin?"

"Yes," he replied, filling up our cups with red wine. "I propose a toast to us, Ukyo. I am so happy to be here by your side. After all that happened to me in the past, I'm now leaving the life I had always dreamed of."

"To us," I said and took a zip of the wine.

"The food is really good, darling," he said. "Actually, I have been thinking that it would be nice to gather everyone and have some sort of banquet."

"So you can eat until you burst?" I said. My baby looked at me with a serious expression on his face for a few moments and then poked his tongue out at me. "You know I'm kidding, honey. Anyway, I understand what you mean. But we have to contact everyone first... and that's going to be kind of hard, considering..."

"Yes, I know," he sighed, and took a bite of a piece of bread. "To think there were so many worlds out there. I wish we didn't need a spaceship to get to them. Well, now it is impossible to get to any of them, if what they said is true. It seems that the stars have only returned to haunt us: they torment our hearts, reminding us of our loved ones, giving us no opportunity to meet them..."

"Don't talk like that, Wilheim. We'll find a way to get to them, you'll see. What's more, it's likely that Sora and the others will find us before that. There's nothing to worry about: we'll see them again. And you'll meet with Siegfried, too."

"I'd surely like that, of all things..."

"That doesn't mean that we still can't organize a banquet, like you said, with all the folks that are here on Earth."

"I know. It is just that it will feel a bit hollow without Link to tell us about his heroic deeds in the land of Hyrule; without Cid to curse us all for insisting him to stop inhaling that venomous tobacco; without Dante to tell us about his family and his immense land, which is now hopefully at peace; without Aeris to dazzle us with her tender smile; without Leon, whose cold shell houses a brave and noble heart..."

"I know, baby. But look on the bright side: we still have Adrian..."

"Ah, yes," he laughed. "I only spent a month by his side after the war was over and it has been one of the most hilarious times of my life. I am still amazed by the quantity of stories he can come up with about his scar."

"I don't really know where he gets them from," I said. "They're just way too crazy."

"Well, he is as mad as a goat," Wilheim retorted and we both burst out in laughter.

"Yeah, I know. Well, returning to our other subject, some of them had sent word that they'll be visiting soon."

"But, how soon?"

"I don't know. We still have each other, don't we?"

"Yes, and that is all that I need, my love," he tenderly said and we gave each other a quick kiss.

"You know, I've got your present right here," I said. "Do you want me to give it to you now? Or do we wait until we have finished eating?"

"Well, I am a bit anxious, so it would be nice to see what it is..." he replied shyly.

"Okie-dokie," I answered and, from under the table, pulled out a small box. "There you go, baby."

"Indeed I am dull-witted," he laughed. "Was it there the whole time?"

"I love you, Wilheim," I said, with a laugh.

"How embarrassing. To think that I didn't notice..."

"I like that sweet clumsiness you have. Come on, stop insulting yourself and open it up, will you?"

"Very well," he mumbled and quickly unwrapped it. He left the carton box on the floor and looked with slight confusion at the CD I had presented him with. I couldn't help but to let out another loud laugh.

"I know you claim you don't like hard rock bands other than Rammstein," I said. "But to be perfectly honest, I'm a bit tired of them. So I gave you that CD. Believe me, it's a very good group. I guarantee you, you'll like them. They always tell a story with their songs; you like good stories, don't you?"

"I certainly do," he muttered. "Rhapsody...? I have never heard of them."

"You can put it on once we've finished eating. You will no doubt thank me then."

"Oh, don't get me wrong! I am very grateful to you, darling..." he hastily exclaimed with an apologizing tone in his voice. "I know I will surely like them."

"That's okay," I answered, knowing that he was had clearly been expecting another Beethoven CD. But I think that he had them all already, so it didn't hurt him the least.

"I do have something for you, too," he said. "Do you want to wait, or shall I present it to you now?"

"Now, now, now!" I whined like a little girl. With a jolly chuckle, he got up from his seat and went to the kitchen. Of course, I'm not as clumsy as Wilheim... because of that, I had already seen his present. I had to act as surprised as I could when he gave me a simple yet expensive box of chocolates. "Oh, how sweet!" I exclaimed. "Thanks, Wilheim. You know how much I like chocolates."

"I do," he said, with a smile.

"Not to be picky, but, you did write me a poem too, didn't you?"

"Of course I did, my love," he answered. "But I would rather save it for the night..." He sure knew when to make his poems shine the brightest.

I walked up to him and looked at him straight into his eyes and put my arms around his neck. He blushed and let his trembling head rest on my chest. I loved how I still had that effect on him.

"What is it, baby?" I mused, turning my voice into a sensuous murmur.

"I am still intimidated by your beauty," he answered in a whisper, embracing me. "Still as captivated by it as the first time I met you."

"I love you very much, baby," I answered, softly kissing his neck and ear. "I love your shyness... yet I wonder why you are still so timid? You're not like that in bed at all. Ah, I'm sorry: you always are at the beginning."

"I suppose I will forever be astounded by the look of your godly body, Ukyo," he said. "Making love with you will be something that will always fascinate and frighten me. But that is the most delicious fear I will ever face and so I will wage that helpless battle very night."

What? There's nothing wrong with leading a sexually healthy life...

"As will I... I know what you mean, honey," I said. "Your poems always make my heart pump so fast. I love the words that come from your heart. But for now, let's just finish our dinner, before it gets cold."

Wilheim nodded and kissed my forehead. We nonetheless remained hugging each other for a little while longer before returning to our dinner. We kept on talking about our friends and about what we had been through together. It was great to be able to talk to him always. I never got bored when I was around him.

And once we finished eating dinner, at right about the very same moment when we placed our empty plates in the sink, someone entered my restaurant. I was about to tell them to leave – I had put the 'Closed' sign on – yet I then noticed merrily that the people that had come through the door were none other than Ranma, Akane, Ryoga, and Sakura.

"Hey!" we happily greeted. Even though it was our anniversary, so to speak, their company was mostly welcomed.

"Hi, guys!" they answered. "What's up?" Ranma added. "Are you open for business, Ucchan?"

"Not today, but you can have some spaghetti if you want: there's enough to support an army." I said.

"Spaghetti? Can't you make some Okonomiyakis?" he asked. I waited a few seconds before answering, hoping that he would realize what he had just requested.

"You do remember what day it is today, don't you?" I said.

"Um... not really."

"It's their anniversary, stupid," Akane said, softly slapping the back of his head. "In fact, I don't know what we're doing here..."

"No, please! You're welcomed to stay as long as you don't make any stubborn demands."

"Okay, I'm sorry," Ranma apologized. He then approached us and patted my darling on his shoulder. "Hey, Willie."

"Hello, Ranma," Wilheim replied with a smile.

"Spaghetti..." hummed Sakura. "Man, it's been practically years since I've had spaghetti. Sure you don't mind us stealing a bit, Ukyo?"

"You're most welcome," I answered. "So, what brings you guys here? Besides spoiling our little private party, that is," I joked.

"Hey, what's so wrong about wanting to be with your friends?" asked Ryoga. "We felt like dropping in."

"Yes, actually, Ukyo and I were just speaking about how much we would like to have a meeting with everyone," Wilheim said. "Have you gotten any letters from our friends?"

"From some, yeah," Akane replied. "Actually, I think we've just gotten e-mails, from Ken and I think that one from Felicia."

"Oh, good," Wilheim said. "We have also received some e-mails from Ken, but we had not heard word from Felicia. How is the little rascal doing?"

"She says she's coming over to visit us all," Ranma answered. "But she didn't say when..."

"Have you heard from someone else, guys?" Sakura questioned.

"Demean, Tish, and Merryck. They've all sent letters," I said. "I don't think they like computers much, or understand them for that matter. Oh, and, how could I forget? We've also gotten some from Adrian."

"Any new stories?" the all asked at the same time.

"We have not asked," Wilheim said. "And that's something I truly regret."

"Yeah, I could use a good laugh," Ryoga said.

"You know what he'd say to that?" I intervened. "'I'm not a buffoon!'" I added, mimicking his voice as best I could and everyone laughed.

"This stuff is good," Sakura claimed, gulping down some spaghetti. "Man, I surely missed Italian."

"I'm glad you guys like it. I counted on you invading us, so that's why I made so much."

"How thoughtful, Ucchan," Ranma chuckled.

"Yeah, that includes especially, you, Ran-Chan," I added. "You, along with Wilheim and Ryu could be the deepest terror of any cook."

"Yeah, Ryu... You know, I hope he and Ken come soon. I want to spar with them." As he saw how I gave him that 'you wouldn't stand a chance against them because you can't even beat me' look, he only turned around and grumbled: "Shut up, Ucchan." I couldn't help but to let out a laugh as he finished saying this.

"You're annoyed so easily, Ran-Chan!" I giggled and playfully shook him.

"Is that spaghetti I smell??" a voice suddenly called from the main entrance. We all turned to it and let out a very loud and merry laugh when we realized that the man standing by the door, wearing a mildly elegant suit, was none other than Ken himself. Speak of the Devil!

"KEN!!" we all exclaimed and ran to him. Sakura was the first to hug him. "Where the hell have you been, Ken?!" she practically demanded.

"Hey, I've been busy!" he answered as he embraced each and every one of us. "The family business has put up a lot of work, you know. Which is something good and bad at the same time... but that really doesn't matter. How've you been, guys? Dear God, you've all grown up a lot!" he exclaimed as he hugged Wilheim, who had grown like crazy during these last months. As for me, I had also grown taller. Not as much as my honey though, but I was still pretty tall for a girl, or so everyone said.

"Busy too," I said. "Keeping a restaurant is hard work, you know. Although I don't think it compares to owning a chain of hotels..."

"Are you implying that I'm filthy rich?" Ken joked.

"Of course we are," Wilheim laughed. "What did you expect, Masters?"

"Ha-ha, Willie."

"Hey, Ken, how's everybody else doing?" asked Akane. "Have you heard from Ryu and the others?"

"Well, actually..." Ken said, turning around with a smile. And right at that moment, to our surprise, another pair of friendly faces appeared at the entrance.

"Ryu!! Felicia!!" we exclaimed happily as we noticed a man wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt (the first time I had ever seen him without his Karate-gi) and a pretty, young woman wearing nothing but a brown jacket and her white fur. What a nice gift for our anniversary!

"Hey, guys," Ryu greeted, catching Sakura as she leapt at him, hugging him fiercely.

"I'm so glad to see you all!" Felicia meowed and ran to Wilheim and me, kissing us tenderly.

"We're going to have to spar later, you know?" Ranma said.

"Most definitively," Ryu answered. "But after we eat... I'm starving!"

Naturally, I wasn't ready to deal with visits of that magnitude. I could handle Wilheim and Ranma, but those two and Ryu were too much for me. If it would've only been Felicia and Ken, it wouldn't have been a problem... but it didn't matter. I was happy to see them all and it wouldn't take me too long to get something ready.

I prepared a table for them and fed them. I had to cook more spaghetti and after two really big helpings from Ranma and four from Ryu, we began to talk about our journeys and what had happened to us afterwards.

Ryu had gone back to traveling through the world, looking for strong opponents to battle against. So far, he said, he hadn't found anyone who had presented as much challenge as the foes we had fought alongside Sora and the others.

"I think that the fiercest battle I had during that time was the one at the Sanctuary," he said. "Back when Morrigan was killed. If it wouldn't have been for Tish, she'd still be dead..."

"I know," Ken added. "That was a really tough fight. For my part, though, the one who gave me a really big headache was Ganondorf. Not only because he nearly destroyed us, but because he was the biggest jerk I've met. Damn, he made me angry."

"Don't even remind me about him," I grumbled. Indeed, Ganondorf had been the enemy I had hated the most... after to Magnus.

"For me, it was the battle against Bison," Ranma said. "Well, against Bison and you, Ryu. That sort of made it more difficult..."

Well, I think you know how the rest of that conversation turned out. But getting back to what had happened to our friends, Ken had been really busy with his business. The only reason he had been able to contact us was because he, unlike Ryu, worked with computers. It had been necessary for him also to catch up with the business. It seems that things hadn't been as idle as we thought when the worlds were cursed by the Heartless. Either way, he had been able to get a few weeks worth of vacation (of course, it also helps a lot when your father is your boss) and had used them to come and visit us.

Because of this, he had neglected his training a bit. His girlfriend, he claimed, also had to do something with it. Not that it bothered him, though. The good news regarding all of this was that they had already set a date for their wedding (we had been invited, naturally – Ryu was the best man). All in all, he had to catch up on his training, because last time they had sparred, Ryu had won by far and the thing you hurt most when winning a battle against Ken isn't his body, it's his ego.

Felicia, who hadn't sent us any e-mails because she had clumsily lost our electronic addresses, had been lending a hand to a foster home. Apparently, she was very good with the children (something that was not particularly hard to believe) and she loved to see their smiling faces. She used to sing and dance with them, to tell them stories, to play games with them... That kitty was really something. No wonder why everyone loved her. Even Octavius (yes, we all remembered he had a soft spot for her – even though he always tried to deny it).

Curious as we were, we couldn't help but to ask Felicia if she had had word from Octavius. Unfortunately, it seemed that no one had known anything regarding the whereabouts or the were-bear or anything related to him. Felicia didn't seem too happy as she told us this. To be perfectly honest, it was hard for us to conceive how much she liked him when she was the cutest thing on the face of the Earth and he was such an iceberg. Well, opposites attract, I guess.

"So, how's it been for you guys?" Ken asked. "How's school?"

"You know, with its ups and downs," Akane answered.

"What about you, guys?" he questioned, looking at Wilheim and me. "Everything okay?"

"I have been doing very well, I must say," Wilheim replied. "I have been doing many things. Learning from tutorials, reading books... But what I have been really enjoying is the quiet life next to my beloved. Even though, during my days as a vampire, I knew rest, I have never felt so at peace as I feel now."

"I'm happy for you, guys," Ryu said, with a smile. "It's great that you've been having a good, peaceful time together. That's the important thing about being a couple, I dare to guess. But, have you guys been training? Or have you neglected your fighting skills, like Ken?"

"Keep on going, Ryu," Ken intervened, while the rest of us laughed. "Just keep on throwing wood into the fire, man. I'm a race car, and you've got me in the red, Ryu! I'm a freaking race car and you shouldn't put a race car in the red!"

"We'll see about that in our next match, Ken," Ryu chuckled.

"That's got to hurt!" Ranma laughed.

"You're on my black list too, wise guy," Ken retorted.

"Well, to answer your question, Ryu, we have all been training," Sakura said. "We all get together once a week – on Fridays – and spar a bit. And I have to admit, Ukyo and Wilheim have turned really good."

"Really? I'd like to see that," Ryu said.

"I suppose you are partly responsible for my advance, master," Wilheim answered, to which we all burst out in laughter as we saw an expression of disgust on Ryu's face.

"I can't believe you still call me 'master'!" he exclaimed. "Willie, it's terrible when you call me that. It makes me feel really old..."

"I was just being respectful, but have it your way, Ryu," Wilheim said, with a smirk.

"Come on, guys, enough fight talk for today, don't you think?" Felicia said. "How's your business going, Ukyo?"

"Not bad," I replied. "Although it's been a little slow this month."

"Is that so? How come?"

"Well, you see, there's a new Chinese restaurant just a block away," I explained. "And it's sort of big. It's been stealing my costumers, you know," I paused to let out a sigh and then went on. "Considering the circumstances, it shouldn't bother me so much. You know, the vampires giving us money, Wilheim moving in here with me... It's all good things. But either way, I'm still a bit pissed."

"Yeah, by the way, how much money do the vampires give you per month, guys?" asked Ken.

"Jeez, Ken, could you please be a little more indiscrete?" Felicia asked, slapping him on the back of his head.

"Well, I was just curious!"

"They give us way more than enough, Ken. Let's leave it at that. Anyway, it's not that I hate competition..." I continued. "It's just that I already have Shampoo bugging me every opportunity she gets – given, she's been much more quiet since Wilheim came into my life – and now I have this restaurant stealing my costumers... I swear Chinese people are going to be the death of me."

"Aw, come on, Ukyo, don't think like that!" Ken said, putting his arm around my neck. "They probably are good people. Tell me, have you even bothered to go eat at that restaurant?"

"Well... I suppose you have a point there..." I murmured. Yet right at that moment, I realized that Ranma and Ryoga's faces had suddenly turned bright red. As I glanced at them, they looked away and turned really nervous. "Um, is there something you two guys would like to share?"

"Me? No!" Ryoga quickly cried. "Of course not! I mean, you're talking, Ken's talking, we're all talking! There's nothing important to share. There's nothing to— we have nothing to share, right Ranma?"

"Oh, yeah," Ranma hastily agreed. "There's nothing important at all to say. It's not like we've ever been there. How could we do that, huh? We've never been there! Stop looking at us like we've been there!"

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds before Felicia ventured to say: "Guys, do yourselves a favor: look up the word 'discretion' on the dictionary."

"Guys, why didn't you tell me?" I asked. "I don't mind if you two eat wherever, but I am a bit mad that you didn't let me know about it. It's not like I'm going to eat your heads off..."

"So, is the food any good?" Ken hastily asked.

"Well, yeah, it's pretty good..." Ryoga answered. "Better than Shampoo's place, I reckon. At least I get better service."

"That's because Shampoo doesn't like you, Ryoga," Akane giggled. "I think she hardly likes any of us... except for Ranma."

"Well, the feeling is a bit mutual, I daresay," Wilheim murmured.

"So why the secrecy, fellas?" asked Felicia. "Is the food better than Ukyo's?"

"No. It's just different," Ranma answered. Since his tone had been sincere, I didn't jump him. "I still like Ucchan's Okonomiyakis better than almost any other food, I think."

"Is the restaurant better than this one?"

"It's bigger," Ryoga answered. "But it doesn't have that... family atmosphere."

"Then what is it?" Felicia insisted. But then, she realized (as did I) that I wasn't the one supposed to find out about their escapades to the Chinese place... "I bet there's a pretty girl working there, isn't it?"

Touché. As Felicia finished saying these words, Ranma and Ryoga turned bright red and looked away. Except for Akane and Sakura, we all burst out in laughter. Wilheim even buried his head in my chest and held me firmly, forcing me to prevent him from falling flat on his stomach.

"Is that so?" Akane asked, her voice filled by jealousy. "So, what's the beauty's name, huh?"

"I'm not sure..." Ranma said.

"Oh, now you don't know? You suddenly forgot? So, does she treat you very well?" Akane challenged.

"You're getting it all wrong!" Ranma complained. "It's nothing! It's just... a little eye-candy, that's all!" Two words: wrong answer.

"Eye-candy?!" Akane roared. "So that means I'm not cute enough to amuse you?!"

"What the hell? No, that's not it! Why can't I say anything without getting jumped by you??"

"Sakura, you know it's just you and me, right?" Ryoga dared to ask.

"Sure, sure, yeah," Sakura grumbled, without even looking at him. "Yeah, I'm totally sure. After all, you did mention that you went to that restaurant right away, didn't you? Oh, right, I forgot: you didn't!!"

"Don't be like that!" Ryoga desperately pleaded, practically falling on his knees. Ryu, Ken, Felicia, Wilheim, and I could do nothing but to struggle to keep our laughs to ourselves. This dumb fight was all too comical... Now I know what Tish felt like when Wilheim and I argued back at the Sanctuary. "Please! Besides, she's older!"

"How old?"

"I think she's twenty-four."

"Is she now? How curious that you even know her age..."

"Sakura, no..." Ryoga just about sobbed. "I... well..."

"Okay, okay," she muttered, taking a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.

"So, is she a fox??" Ken hastily asked, making us laugh again.

"KEN!!" Sakura and Akane cried.

"What? It's a simple question!"

"Let me remind you, Ken, that you are engaged," Felicia said. "You don't want to get Eliza jealous, do you?"

"Of course not!" he answered. "But it's like I always say: just because I'm on a diet doesn't mean I can't look at the menu..." turning back to Ryoga and Ranma, he pressed on. "Well, is she really that pretty? What is she? A waiter? The girl behind the cash-register?"

"I think she's the owner of the joint," Ranma ventured to answer. Akane just looked away and crossed her arms over her chest. "She's the main cook, as well. I think that maybe Ukyo and her would get along if they met... Well, it's not like I've ever had a real conversation with her, but still..."

"Oh, well. I suppose I'll drop by her place one day," I said, but then turned to Wilheim and added: "You, however, are staying grounded."

"Not if it's food, I won't," he replied, gaining a laugh from us (even from the still maddened Akane and Sakura).

"I don't know about you guys, but I think we should all go have dinner there, so Ukyo won't have to cook again, or any of you, girls," Ken said.

"Ken, be honest: you just want to check that girl out," Felicia said.

"Well, that's a bonus, I admit. But hey, it's Chinese food! Ryu agrees with me, right?"

"Yeah, Chinese food is really good. Besides, it's been a while since I had any," our friend added.

"I'm not really in the mood for Chinese..." Ryoga stuttered. Even so, Sakura wouldn't even look at him. They were so funny... "You know, I think we should just—" he suddenly paused and sniffed the air about us. "Hey, Ukyo, is something burning?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "There's nothing burning here."

All of them sniffed the air a little bit and after a moment of remaining silent, Felicia turned to me with a concerned expression on her face and said: "Funny I didn't notice before, but yeah, Ukyo: something is burning. Better check out what it is..."

The smell of burnt wood reached my nose and I quickly did as they told me. As a matter of fact, we all got up from our seats and began to register the restaurant, hoping that we wouldn't find anything on fire. But everything seemed to be in order... Wherever that smell came from, it had nothing to do with my restaurant.

"It's not from here," I said. "But you guys are right: something is definitively on fire."

Wilheim went to the exit and I hastily followed him. We both opened the door and looked outside...

Just as we had all guessed, there was something on fire. And not just 'something', it was a whole building. What was more; it wasn't just any building... It was the very same Chinese restaurant we had talked about!

"Dear God..." Wilheim muttered.

"What is it?" our friends asked.

"The Chinese place," I answered, hastily (and by instinct, I must say) getting a hold of my spatula. Wilheim did the same thing with Renamark as did Ryu with his trusty backpack. Without asking any further questions, all of my friends stepped outside the restaurant, nothing inside our minds and hearts but to help anyone who could be in danger. Yeah, I bet that sounds cheesy, but we had saved the worlds before, right?

I quickly shut all the fires in my kitchen and the lights. I then locked the restaurant and ran alongside my friends to the burning restaurant. Strangely enough, there wasn't anybody near. No firemen, no people staring with fear... there was not a soul. Except for us, that is... And as we approached the place, we all felt a familiar presence and raised our guards.

The sun was setting. Twilight poured its radiance on the streets. The light posts were turned on. And still, their beams did not prove to be bright enough to vanquish the shadows that slowly begun to appear before us. An army of fiends rose from the ground. A group of enemies we had encountered many times before, which we thought we would not meet again.

"Heartless!!" we all exclaimed and right about the time we yelled this, I sensed a burst of immense energy coming from inside the burning restaurant. The rest of my friends felt it too and they hastily turned to the place.

But before we could do anything, the Heartless attacked. They were many and varied: I could see small bug-like Heartless, soldier fiends, flying monsters, and heavy warriors. Yet there was nothing we hadn't faced before. We had all battled against these fiends in the past and had learned their techniques. Because of that, we fearlessly threw ourselves against them, weapons and fists at the ready.

The first one to strike was Felicia. I could see that our kitty friend had all but lost her strength and agility. She rolled through the ground and leapt high into the air as she reached her victim, slashing it across its chest, literally cutting it in half. Many small Heartless went after her, but they came face to face with my spatula: I leapt in front of Felicia and delivered a quick blow to the Heartless, sending them back to oblivion.

Ranma and Akane fought side by side (it was obviously no time to be mad at each other). They watched over each other's backs jealously, defeating every Heartless that raced to them. The flying Heartless tried to snatch Akane and lift her into the air, but she immediately pulled them back to the ground and kicked their dark life out of them. Ranma didn't even have to recur to his energy blasts: his speedy fists and legs were more than enough to rid himself of the onslaught of enemies that marched at him.

Ken was seemingly out of shape... compared to the rest of us, that is. What I mean by this is that he was still insanely powerful, but he hadn't become much stronger during the last six months, while we had refined our techniques by far. It took him a little longer to get rid of the opponents around him, yet not one of them succeeded in even touching him. I could still see flames rising from his ruthless attacks.

Ryoga and Sakura also kept close to each other. While Ryoga destroyed the ground with his finger, launching tiny shards of pavement at the enemies, Sakura kicked and punched whatever enemies came near them. Unlike Ranma, she did throw a few projectiles of energy, but only to rid herself of Heartless in the least possible amount of time. Some fat Heartless reached them, but they quickly fell to the ground, back up, from Ryoga's attack and then Sakura finished them.

Since I had already paired up with Felicia, Wilheim, knowing that I would be safe by the cat-woman's side, chose to fight next to Ryu. It was truly amazing: while my honey lacked Ryu's amazing skill and finesse, his strength had surpassed even that of the wandering warrior. He didn't even need to attack the fat Heartless from the back: his fist was powerful enough to pierce through their armor and break their skin as if it were soft wood. Not only that, Renamark was as deadly as ever and with it, Wilheim beheaded many soldiers and bugs. Ryu hastily beat the life out of any dark foes that dared approach him. His legs and fists even created hot currents of air that knocked down every Heartless that stood in his path.

The battle went on steadily. More and more Heartless sprung from the ground and out of thin air, but they quickly meet their doom. Once they have proved to be a challenge: now they weren't good enough to be our punching bags.

But something unexpectedly happened. From the streets and alleys around us appeared nine figures. At first, they were covered by the shadows of the walls and buildings, so it was difficult to tell what they were. However, once they stepped into the radiance provided by the fire, we all tightened the grip on our weapons and closed our fists in alert. These beings didn't seem to be Heartless at all... Rather, they appeared to be some sort of robots. They all wore a long, white suit, complete with a cape. They had a blue cross that went from their stomach to their blue battle boots. Each had a belt with a big clasp with the word 'ennui' carved upon it. They all carried long, two-handed swords with blue hilts as well. Their robotic faces seemed to have been built from green metal and their yellow eyes studied us carefully. They even had blonde hair which waved with the hot wind that came from the burning restaurant...

"What the hell are those things?" Ken muttered.

"Do you think they're with the Heartless?" asked Akane.

As a response to her question, one of the robots dashed to a small group of Heartless and cut through them with frightening ease. He then stood still, looking at us without making a move. Very soon, the rest of the robots attacked the remaining dark creatures and destroyed them all. Nevertheless, we didn't precisely have the feeling that these things were up to any good: before we knew it, they had surrounded us...

"I don't think these guys are up to any good..." whispered Ranma.

"Gee, whatever gave you that idea?" Sakura murmured.

"Get away from me, you freaking arsonist!!" a sudden, high-pitched voice cried loudly. The yell had come from inside the restaurant and was followed by a very violent explosion of energy which made us fall to the ground. A figure flew at an incredible speed out of the burning building and crashed against one of the walls about us. Looking at it, we realized it was another robot of the same kind that we were facing. The automaton had been badly beaten: sparks flew from its broken circuits and after a few moments, its head fell from its neck and rolled over the ground.

If it had been almost clear to us at the beginning, now there was no trace of doubt. The robots were aggressive and were going to attack us. We quickly rose to our feet and began our offensive. You know what they say: he who hits first hits twice.

Wilheim was the first to attack. With great strength, he brought Renamark upon his opponent. The robot parried the blow with his sword. I was amazed that he hadn't cut it. Renamark's steel is capable of shattering anything. I suppose he hadn't given it the power it needed; it wasn't even on fire. The foe counterattacked with a blow aimed to Wilheim's stomach, but he quickly leapt back, escaping the edge of the robot's blade. Sakura raced to an adversary and evaded its thrust. She then hit him with an uppercut, yet she only succeeded in making her opponent take a few steps back: their metallic skin was extremely tough as well. The fiend tried to stab her repeatedly, but she skillfully evaded the blows. Ryoga ran to her aid, but a robot got in his way. Very soon, each of us was locked in a fierce battle against each of the robots.

"Someone's still inside!" Ryu exclaimed as he did his best to stay away from the robot's sword, counterattacking every chance he got.

"We have to save her!" cried Ranma while he delivered a fierce kick to one of the enemies.

"Get rid of these guys first!" I yelled.

The robot kept attacking me with its long sword and I kept parrying its attacks with my spatula. I hit the damn thing many times, but it was simply to resistant to be defeated just like that. The automaton was amazingly fast, too, and it didn't just use its sword to attack me. I blocked many a kick coming from him and believe me, those metallic legs hurt like hell. Not only that, I could feel, every now and then, a strong electrical current running through its arms, legs, and sword. This was a really strong, dangerous opponent which I couldn't take as lightly as the Heartless...

Ken fought aggressively, as always, but was forced every now and then to remain still and wait for his enemy to make a move. The robot was very agile and remained close to the ground, making it easy for it to avoid most of Ken's deadlier attacks. His Tatsumakisenpuukiaku was ineffective against the fiend: his kicks always flew right over its head. The robot would counterattack with a speedy, vertical slash and managed to cut Ken's skin. Though the wounds were not serious, our friend was losing blood, and that wasn't good in any way.

Felicia's hard claws, to her misfortune, were all but ineffective against this terrible fiend. She slashed its face, arms, and legs many times and her only achievement was to leave the marks of her nails on the iron. Luckily, she was fast enough to evade most of the terrible attacks and only got hit a few times. The fiend hadn't been quick enough to cut her with its sword, what was more.

Akane's attacks were also very ineffective. The robot had knocked her down several times and she hadn't even put a dent in the automaton's skin. Ranma tried desperately to run to her side, yet he was having lots of trouble with his own opponent as well. He tried shooting a beam of energy at it, but the robot shunned it as if it were a toy thrown at him. I suppose Ranma didn't have enough positive energy to create a truly fearsome projectile, which was very bad.

Ryu, Ken, and Wilheim were the only ones who could actually hit the robots without breaking their hand. However, like I've already mentioned, Ken wasn't faring so well. My beloved was even more damaging than Ryu, but he wasn't quick enough to score as much punches or kicks as our friend. Also, the fiend was too fast for him and easily escaped the blows coming from his sword. Wilheim had spent so much time training his strength that he had nearly forgotten about the other skills he had learnt in the past. He sure needed them now... Ryu was hardly hurt, I think, and it seemed to us that he had delivered some pretty nasty attacks upon the robot.

Suddenly, my enemy did something which I didn't expect at all. Its sword was filled by an immensely powerful electrical current which it shot at me at full speed. I was unable to evade it and received the electrical projectile on the chest. I screamed in pain as my fists clenched on my spatula and fell flat on my back.

"UKYO!!" I heard Wilheim yell, filled by fright.

Nevertheless, the battle was all but lost for me. The robot, thinking me defeated, leapt high into the air and aimed its sword at my stomach and attempted to stab me with a fierce thrust. I rolled on my back, making the automaton's thrust miss. It buried its sword on the ground and was defenseless for a few moments. I wasn't going to spare any mercy. I grabbed one of my tiny spatulas and with a loud roar I buried it on my opponent's temple. The robot began to convulse as spars began to fly all over the place. I retrieved my small weapon and then crushed him with a tremendous blow with my larger spatula.

I then turned to Wilheim and noticed a trail of blood coming from his mouth. I assumed the robot must've hit him when he had been distracted because of my fall. Seeing that he wasn't going to win this battle by brute strength alone, Wilheim began to use Renamark as if were a katana. The results of such a change in his fighting style were amazing. The robot, which had gotten used to my beloved's amazing power and bulkiness, now faced a much more agile opponent which skillfully counterattacked every blow it tried to land on him. It turned out Wilheim wasn't as out of shape as I thought... The robot tried to slice his head with a quick attack to the skull, but Wilheim parried the blow and hastily cut both of the automaton's legs. He then kicked the sword out of the fiend's hands and finished it by burying Renamark on its chest, letting its fire consume its inner circuits.

Felicia also realized that she wasn't making any progress by just scratching her enemy's body with her claws. She realized she needed something else... So it was that when the robot leapt high into the air and tried to fall upon her, attempting to cut her in half, Felicia leapt back and the used her tail to propel herself against her enemy, using the claws on her feet as fierce arrows shot from a gigantic bow. She finally succeeded in piercing her foe's armor, leaving some circuits out on plain sight. The robot, however, hadn't suffered any inner damage and still functioned properly. The fight raged on and Felicia got hurt a couple more times before she at last found the opening she needed to end the battle.

"Get ready, ugly!" she cried. "Time to go for a spin!"

After evading a high blow from the robot by ducking, she buried her claws inside the cut she had just made. Then, she propelled herself around her enemy with so much speed and strength that she began to circle it as if she were the blade of a helicopter. This time, the robot was unable to withstand such a technique and she cut through like tin can.

Ryoga, who had tried so far to keep his enemy at bay by shooting strong beams of energy at it, now found himself in a dangerous situation. The robot had backed him up against a corner and had managed to stag him on the shoulder. Our friend was weak and had hardly any strength to battle on. However, Ryoga had a wonderful trick up his sleeve which the machine did not foresee as tried to stab Ryoga's head with its sword. He ducked underneath the blade and then buried his finger into the robot's chest.

"Breaking Point!!" he exclaimed loudly and the fiend suddenly exploded into a hundred pieces which fell here and there. Then, Ryoga fell on his knees, gasping for air, clutching his wound.

Ranma had also been pushed against a wall. His punches were not very effective: the robot had but a few dents on its body. It was then that he decided to try a desperate move: as the robot readied itself to cut Ranma's arm off, he threw a powerful kick at his face. This gave him enough time to grab his enemy's hand, forcing him to drive his sword against a wall. Once he had stuck the blade to the concrete, Ranma began to hit the side of his opponent with the speed of lightning. He let out a loud, long yell as he punched again and again, the robot convulsing from the terrible attack. At last, he pierced its armor and destroyed its inner circuits, thus annihilating it. By that moment, however, Ranma's hands were terribly hurt and cut. His fingers trembled in pain as he stepped away from the broken robot.

Sakura hadn't attacked her enemy anymore. Mostly, she had focused in evading its furious attacks. She was seemingly desperate to find an opening. She side stepped and leapt back and forth but didn't throw any punches or kicks. It was clear that she had hurt her hands and feet too much already. The robot suddenly leapt high into the air, swinging its sword at Sakura's body. She skillfully moved aside, evading most of the fiend's steel: a small cut was all the creature achieved. Once its guard was down, she leapt behind it and caught it by its neck. It was then that she summoned all her strength to her fists and began to punch the robot's temple as hard as she could. Though her hands ended in the same state as Ranma's she succeeded in breaking through the automaton's metal skin and through his circuits.

Akane and Ken were fighting very close to each other. Their opponents fought mercilessly, aiming each of their blows at vital spots on their bodies. Our friends moved out of harm's way many times, but still got hit. Ken threw a punch at his enemy's face, yet the robot quickly ducked and counterattacked with an uppercut that made Ken take a step back.

"Now you've done it, bastard," he grumbled and immediately threw a devastating kick at the head. The attack hit its mark and practically turned the whole robot's body around. But instead of finishing his opponent, Ken turned to Akane and started to run to her. "Akane!!" he yelled. "Switch!"

She glanced to her and hastily rolled away from her opponent as Ken leapt into the air and hit the robot with yet another terrible kick. Once he fell on his feet, he summoned his inner strength and released it in the form of a powerful Shoryuken. His fist was covered by flames which went into the robot's circuits, his metallic skin torn apart by the mighty technique. They both fell on the ground moments later: Ken on his feet and the robot in pieces.

Akane also ran as fast as she could to the other machine, which was still recovering from Ken's brutal kick. Seeing her run at it, it aimed a deadly strike at Akane's legs, attempting to cut them off. She leapt into the air, evading the fiend's blade, and turned around in midair. She took a hold of the robot's skull and then pulled him hard to bring it off balance and then pushed his head against the ground, breaking the pavement. Noticing that the robot still functioned, she raised her leg high into the air and brought her foot upon the foe's face, crushing its iron skin. However, as she pulled out her foot from the robot's broken skull, she began to hop around in one foot. It was only logical to think that she had nearly broken her heel.

Ryu had kept on fighting at a steady rhythm and both he and his opponent were equally hurt. That means that he had only a few cuts on his body and the robot had some dents on its. The fiend kicked Ryu, forcing him to take a few steps back. Ryu hesitated for a split of second and then delivered a sudden, powerful side-kick aimed at the fiend's face. The automaton tripped and fell on his back. Our friend then leapt high into the air, right above the robot's fallen body and shot a Hadoken at his enemy. There was an explosion of energy and the only thing that remained where the robot once laid was a crater. Its pieces fell here and there after Ryu landed safely on the ground. He turned around to us and asked: "Is everyone all right?"

"Well, we're still alive if that's what you mean," Ryoga murmured, gripping his shoulder fiercely. Sakura went to his side and helped him up.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!!" cried the same high-pitched voice as before and another explosion of energy took place. Once again, a robot flew at high speed out of the restaurant and crashed against the ground. We saw no arms on its broken body and the torso was in terrible shape, with many cables and chips coming out of it. Needless to say, the machine no longer worked.

But right about at that moment, the powerful energy that we had sensed disappeared. We heard no more yells or grunts coming from inside the restaurant. The presence had simply gone.

"It seems she's fading!" Wilheim yelled. "I have to go get her!"

"No, Wilheim!" I cried and grabbed his arm. The restaurant was about to crumble. "Don't go!"

"I will be all right!" he assured, caressing my face. "Trust me, my dearest... I will return to you soon!"

Turning to the fiery building, I hesitated about letting him go. But I trust in his words. I knew he would do as he said.

"Hurry up!" I finally said.

"Heads up, guys!" cried Ken and they all got close to each other. "Four more robots coming!" I glanced over their heads and saw four automatons crawling at us.

"Here, take this!" Wilheim said and handed me Renamark. "I need you to be strong and destroy those creatures for me, Ukyo. That girl will not hold on much longer."

"Then you take my spatula," I replied. "You'll probably need it to make your way. Now, get in there and save her!"

Wilheim nodded and took a deep breath and held it in before he entered the building in flames. I turned to the robots and noticed two had already engaged combat with my friends while the other two raced towards the restaurant. It was obvious to me that they wanted to enter it and kill the girl inside... and my Wilheim as well.

I quickly put myself on guard in front of the restaurant's entrance. I wasn't going to let them through just like that. Seeing this, one of them leapt high into the air, attempting to enter the building from its crumbling roof.

"Oh, no you don't..." I muttered and threw Renamark at him as hard as I could. The magical sword flew to him as if it were an arrow and pierced its armor like paper. Sparks flew out of its body and its eyes turned dark. As this happened, the other robot swung its sword horizontally at my stomach. I leapt back, evading the blow. Taking a step forth, it attacked again, this time with a vertical slash. I took out two tiny spatulas and blocked its sword. Then, I kicked its chest hard, making it take a few steps back. Right about that time, the other automaton fell on the ground, Renamark still buried in its body. I hastily removed it and faced my enemy, letting the magical blade fill my body with its power. The robot quickly threw itself at me with a flurry of fast slashes. I parried many of them and evaded a few, but it did cut me a couple of times, although it was nothing serious.

It suddenly aimed its sword low and tried to cut through my legs. I raised my right foot and stepped on its blade, pinning it to the ground. Once it was defenseless, I cut off its hand and then pierced its body. I let Renamark burn fiercely, frying all the electrical inner circuits inside of it. It was even more effective than pouring water on them, I reckon. The robot ceased to function. What was more, as I raised my head and looked at my friends, I noticed that they had also already destroyed their enemies. Ryu, Ken, and Sakura had done most of the fighting, since Ranma, Ryoga, and Akane seemed to be in no shape for fighting. Yet they would have to wage battle whether they liked it or not, because as I approached my companions, we noticed three more robots approaching us from one of the streets about.

I carefully glanced at the restaurant and at its surroundings, looking for any other robots that might try to enter it and ambush Wilheim and the girl. There was no evident danger, safe of course, for the fire itself. I let out a sigh, hoping that Wilheim would come out soon and faced the robots along with my friends. Our most hurt companions endured their pain as best as they could and raised their guards.

Suddenly, a figure appeared on the rooftop of the building behind the robots. Before we could discern who or what it was, it leapt down at the automatons. It unsheathed a shiny katana which glittered momentarily with the light of the fire and buried it on the skull of one of the robots, destroying it instantly. It was not until then that we all (including the other two machines, I daresay) saw clearly who had aided us.

It had been a very fierce-looking woman. She wore a revealing kimono which was mostly white with some black parts right about her shoulders and a black line at the lower part of the fabric. There were some red lines here and there, too. There was also a red circle with four small triangles surrounding it at the side of each of her legs. I could see the same symbol on her back as well. Her choice of footwear were a pair of sandals, all complete with protection for her ankles. She also wore a red obi, were her already sheathed katana waited to be wakened. She had a very lovely body... long shapely legs, big breasts... but her face was a whole other deal. Not that she was ugly: on the contrary, she was very beautiful. Her peach-colored hair was long and tied to a pony tail. Her features seemed delicate... yet the stern expression on her face and the war paint that ran from her brow and cross her left eye, which's pink color and cold glance could chill the blood of a demon, were enough to frighten any opponent. What was more, it seemed that she didn't have a right eye: her closed eyelid had a nasty scar upon it and didn't seem that she would ever open it again. And to make her even more intimidating and mysterious, I saw that she didn't have a right arm either. Her torn sleeve hung still by her side as she grasped her katana firmly with her left hand.

The robots hastily attacked. The first one tried to strike her head with its sword. Unexpectedly, from where I thought only was an empty sleeve, came out an iron fan which parried the blow. Before the robot could attack again, the woman unsheathed her katana and drove it through the fiend's stomach. The robot twitched uncontrollably as its systems started to fail. Our apparent ally speedily sheathed her blade and then spun on her feet, using her iron fan to cut off the robot's head.

The second robot's turn came. It lunged at her with a quick thrust, which the woman parried with blinding speed. Her katana didn't remain outside her sheathe longer than a second. It attacked again and again its blows were deflected. Then, the woman raised her foot high and brought it down against the ground with amazing force, breaking it, causing a really big piece of pavement to fly up and hit the robot on the face, knocking him down. But wait, it gets better: before she let the automaton fall, she kicked him on the back and sent him flying into the air. She leapt after him and began to cut him with both her iron fan and her sharp katana. I swear I even saw how she pulled out an iron, spiked club from her sleeve and use it to pound the robot repeatedly. Lastly, she employed an iron claw attached to a long rope, propelled herself to the ground using her inner energy and pulled the robot against the ground as hard as he could, shattering him like a vase. She unsheathed her blade, checking that it wasn't stained with any sort of fuel, and then put it back on its sheathe.

"...Wow..." we all muttered at the same time. But before she could answer (or we could demonstrate more awe), the ground was once again riddled with shadows that turned into yet another wave of Heartless.

The foes were many, so we all had to fight, including Akane, Ranma, and Ryoga. The mysterious woman quickly slaughtered every Heartless that went near her with incredibly fast and powerful moves. She was a remarkable fighter. As for the rest of us, we fought fiercely, as we always did, and destroyed the Heartless without too much trouble. Even our wounded friends didn't have much problem. Akane skillfully fought on one foot; Ryoga used her Breaking Point technique to keep his enemies at bay so he could then obliterate them with mighty energy beams, and Ranma used just his legs for attacking.

"A little help would come in handy!" Wilheim suddenly exclaimed. I turned to the entrance to the restaurant and noticed that he had already managed to get out of the restaurant. He was struggling to keep the Heartless away from him using my spatula with his right hand alone, for his left hand held the unconscious girl that had defeated those robots earlier. He had placed both upon her face and upon his nose and mouth a wet piece of cloth. Both of their clothes were stained and they had a few mild burns here and there. Nothing too serious or anything that would leave a scar, I reckoned.

I could see that the girl was just as tall as I was. She had a red, Chinese outfit. Not too traditional, I should say, for she had a ridiculously miniature skirt that allowed her to show her long legs. Looking at them, I stopped wondering why Ranma and Ryoga had been so reluctant about telling us about her. She had a breathtaking body and her sensuality was only augmented by her garments. She wore high-heel boots, giving an even more attractive look to her legs. Her unusual sleeves only covered her forearms, leaving her shapely at plain sight as they fell unconsciously by her sides. Her hair style was the strangest I've ever seen: it formed what seemed to be a large, dark chestnut colored circumference above her head. As for her face, I couldn't see it, because it was hiding behind the wet cloth Wilheim had put on her to save her life.

I got to his side and swung my sword at the Heartless as furiously as I could, burning them with the blade's fire, cutting them apart with its steel. It didn't take us too long to destroy all of them. Once that was done, I helped Wilheim carry the unconscious girl away from the burning restaurant, which, moments later, fell to the ground. Ash and smoke rose from the destroyed building, making us all cough repeatedly.

"She is still alive," Wilheim said, after a few moments. "But I do not know how much smoke she inhaled before I got to her. I can only hope that she will be all right..."

"Goddamn it!!" Ken exclaimed, taking a step back. It was then that we all noticed we were surrounded: on one side was a terribly large army of Heartless, still spawning from the shadows about. And on the other, was another very large group of those powerful robots, crawling at us slowly. We all got close to one another, our guards up but without knowing what to do...

"...Trapped..." Ranma muttered.

"There's nowhere to run," Akane added.

"...Wait a minute..." Ryu murmured and got on his knees. He quickly stuck his hand into his backpack and began to search frantically for something. At last, he found it: a Gummi ship which he had hold on to after our quest had come to an end. Of course, that wouldn't have made a difference elsewhere. However, it appeared that there was enough magical energy about us necessary to enlarge the vessel.

"Make it grow and let's get inside!" Ryoga yelled.

Ryu left the Gummi ship on the ground and we all got away from it. It soon turned as large as we all remembered it. The hatch lay open, beckoning us to go inside and escape from the armies that marched upon us. We didn't lose a moment and entered as quickly as we could. Yet I suddenly noticed that the mysterious woman who had aided us was still facing the Heartless and the robots. It seemed to me that she was reluctant to go inside the ship with us.

"Come on!" I called to her from the hatch. "You'll just get yourself killed if you don't come with us! Please, hurry!"

She turned around and stared at me for a few moments. Then, she looked at the armies again and let out an angry groan.

"I know I'm gonna regret this!" she exclaimed in a very grave voice, turned tail and entered the ship along with me. The hatch then closed behind our backs.

"Who's flying this thing?" I shouted. Yet as the engines started and the vessel lifted up in the most unpleasant way you could ever imagine, my beliefs were confirmed. As the mysterious woman and I rolled over the ground and crashed against a wall, I angrily exclaimed: "Felicia, you could've waited until we had been sitting down!!"

"Sorry!" she answered. "But I had to get us out of here right away!"

We got up and went to the cockpit. I was amazed: we had already exited the world and were in outer space. "I didn't remember that these things went so fast..." Sakura said.

"I don't think they go by the... um, 'traditional route', per se," Ken said. "It seems to me that they go to some sort of different dimension... I mean, it's unlikely that we could reach the other worlds last time in just a matter of days, don't you think?"

"Perhaps you're right..." I muttered and sighed.

How could there be any more Heartless? I had thought they had all been locked in Kingdom Hearts. Why were they among us still? Was there something we had overlooked? Or was there another wise guy trying to use them for his own benefit? Whatever was happening, it made me think that I had to leave my home once again in order to fight. I didn't want something like that to happen again... I was happy by Wilheim and my friends' side. But fate had something else in store for us.

Nevertheless, not everything was bad. If the Heartless were back, that mean that there was only one person I knew who could eliminate them for good: Sora. Which in turn meant that we would have to go look for him. Perhaps we would have the meeting we had longed for so much. Not precisely how we would've otherwise planned it... Yet to see old friends is always something that's most welcome.

None of us said anything during that time. I suppose that all of them thought the same thing I had pondered. I could see they were all deeply troubled. Except, that is, for the unconscious girl and the mysterious woman. The latter had sat down on a chair and had taken out a pipe. She began to smoke, as if nobody else was there with her, and let out a sigh. And here I thought I had rid myself of tobacco when Cid had gone.

"What happened?" finally asked Ryoga. "Why were there Heartless again?"

"I don't know," Ryu answered. "All that I know is that the only one who can give us some answers is Sora."

"You know, that mouse – Donald and Goofy's King – he may know something about it, too," Ranma suggested.

"We only saw him once," Felicia replied. "I think it'd be safer to look for Sora and the others. Besides, he has the Keyblade. He can get rid of the Heartless."

"I can't believe we had to leave our homes behind again..." Akane muttered. "What will happen to our families? What will happen to the world?"

"Our family can take care of themselves, Akane," Ranma said. "And somehow, I don't think that the Heartless will be able to take on Earth again..."

"I hope you're right, Ranma..."

"Hey, how's she doing?" Ken asked Wilheim, completely changing the subject, thankfully. My honey got up from his seat, went to one of the rooms – which were in the same state we had left them when we had last been in the ship – and let the girl's unconscious body there.

"Her breathing is weak," he answered at last as everyone closed in around her. Felicia had even activated the automatic pilot to take a look. "Give her room to breathe," Wilheim added as he removed the piece of wet cloth from her face. She had a very lovely face, very attractive... "I'm not sure she will make it..."

"I think we have a couple of potions stored," Ryu said. "I'm going to look for them."

"Hurry, Ryu," Ranma said.

Our friend left the room and returned moments later with two potions. She gave one to Ryoga, who was the one in worst shape, and the other one to Wilheim so he could give it to the girl. She was truly lucky.

"We only have one left," Ryu announced. "I hope she won't need it."

"She's strong, I bet she'll be all right," I said, feeling much calmer now that the girl was safe. Wilheim carefully raised her head and made her drink the potion. Her wounds began to disappear as she swallowed the magical liquid.

"Well, you guys were right," Ken remarked. "She is a fox."

"I bet she is," Akane muttered while she and Sakura angrily eyed Ranma and Ryoga.

"...Kuradoberi," the mysterious woman suddenly muttered with her grave voice as she eyed the girl, making us all turn to face her. "I'll be damned."

"...You know her?" I asked.

"You could say that," she replied. "Her name is Jam Kuradoberi. I've fought against her a few times," she turned around and left the room, still puffing on her pipe, but not before adding: "She's a royal pain in the ass. And I don't mean it from the way she fights: she's just plain annoying."

"Well, I thought she was nice when I met her," Ranma dared to answer, to which the woman contested, turning to him with a killer glance:

"That's because you think with your dick and not with your brains."

"Excuse me??" Ranma and Akane exclaimed, unable to believe the woman's words. She was more like Cid than I had thought. She even had the foul language trade. Yet Cid wasn't as unsociable as this lady... "What did you just say?"

The woman didn't answer. She just sat down at one of the chairs near the cockpit and kept on smoking.

"That woman's got some nerve!" Sakura whispered. "After we saved her life and then she insults—Wilheim, it's not funny!" she snapped. I hadn't noticed until then, but my baby was truly struggling not to burst out in laughter. Only Ryu, Ken, and myself didn't look at him with disapproval.

"I'm sorry!" he replied. "It's just that I've never heard a woman talk like that..."

"Well, don't laugh," scolded Felicia. "It wasn't funny, you know. I would've punched her lights out if she would've told me that."

"All right, all right," Wilheim said. "Well, it does not matter. At least she is recuperating, I think," he added, looking at the unconscious girl – Jam, that is.

"Well, where should we go to now?" asked Ryoga.

"I think there is a log with the coordinates of the worlds we visited last time," Ryu said. "I'll look for it and see if there's one of them near. We need to find food... We have some canned stuff and some ramen soups, but that won't last for long."

"Either way, Ryu, you saved the day," Ken chuckled, rubbing his fist on his friend's head. "Thank God you're a sentimental fool and decided to keep this as a souvenir."

"I suppose," Ryu replied, getting Ken off his back.

They all began to talk about how we should get organized while we reached another world. I only knew that, one way or the other, we had to find Sora. I decided to leave the room and Wilheim came with me. He put his hand on my shoulder and asked:

"Are you all right, darling?"

"Yeah," I answered and held him. "I was afraid when you went into that restaurant... Thank God nothing happened to you."

"I said I would be fine, didn't I? I had no intention of leaving you, my beloved. And in this new quest, I promise that, as I did before, I will let no harm come upon you. I will give my life for you, if it comes to it."

"Don't even say that, baby," I said and kissed his chest. "You know my life would be so empty without you..."

"Unbearable," he muttered. "That is why I make such an oath."

At that moment, we turned to the woman, who had been staring at us silently and with a serious expression on her face. She puffed on her pipe and looked away. I walked to her and sat by her side, while Wilheim stood beside me.

"Thanks for the help," I said.

"Those robots are after me, too," she replied. "They hadn't seen me. I took advantage of that and attacked them before they could retaliate. It's as simple as that."

"...I'll take that as a 'you're welcome'."

"Why are you chased by those machines?" Wilheim asked.

"Beats me. All that I know is that they're a real pain in the ass – much like that little flower you saved."

"Are you saying that she's a bad person?" I questioned.

"Nah. You'll understand what I mean when she wakes up."

"Well, that does not matter at the moment, I should think," Wilheim said. "For now, I thank you too for your help, though I was not there to see you fight. My name is Wilheim," he said and offered his right hand. The woman looked at it with a puzzled expression for a few moments and at last, she said:

"I'm Baiken," she said, giving a slight nod with her head. "I'd shake under other circumstances, but..."

"...Oh, I beg your pardon!" he exclaimed. "I had not noticed that—"

"Save it. Men are always really clumsy, anyway," she said. I don't know if that applies to every man, but Wilheim had no argument there.

"I'm Ukyo Kuonji," I added. "Pleased to meet you."

"Uh-huh," Baiken replied. Getting along with her was going to be really difficult. Either way, I had treated worse individuals – like Sephiroth. At least this woman wasn't evil... "So, seeing that you've kidnapped me, would you mind explaining to me what the hell is going on? It seems to me that you all know a great deal about those shadows. I'd appreciate it if you shared."

"Well, it's a long story..."

"How much approximately before we land this piece of junk?"

"We cannot be sure," Wilheim said. "But it will most likely take us a few days, at the very least."

"Then spill the beans," Baiken insisted.

With a sigh, we told her everything there was to tell. Eventually, our friends came into the room and sat down near us quietly. Ryu and Ken made a few interventions here and there, but mostly, Wilheim and I were the only ones who dared speak to our new companion. She didn't seem to care, anyway.

The moment came when we were all very tired and we decided to save the rest of our story for later. No doubt the other girl would want to know something as well. Baiken left and locked herself up in a room. When this happened, our friends began to whisper amongst themselves. Except for Ryu and Ken, none of them seemed too happy about having her on board.

As for Wilheim and me, we both agreed later on that there was more to Baiken that met the eye. I wondered what could've happened to her to make her so bitter... Either way, at the moment, we had no choice but to tolerate her (and Jam, if what Baiken had said proved to be true, although she didn't seem to like anybody), for we faced enemies, old and new, and we had to stick together.


	4. Chapter 3: Gender Issues

Hey, guys. I present to you the third chapter of the story: I must confess I had a really, really good time writing this one. I also have a warning: during my past story, I used mild language all about, just about a few swearing words, but nothing too strong. This time, however, I'll be recurring (well, not _me_... some characters, that is :P) to strong swearing words, such as the 'f' one. I know I classified my story correctly, but I'd just like you all to know, since I never did anything of the sort on my past story.

Also, some new characters will appear on this chapter. They belong to Mr. Kiosce... well, two of them, at least. Although he gave me the ideas for another one.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter very much. See ya!

_Chapter Three: Gender Issues_

_Narrator: Baiken_

What mess had I gotten myself into? I had really screwed up this time. Everything because I chose a heck of a wrong time to pull my Boy Scout stunt by helping these guys. If I would've known what was going to happen then, I would've surely gotten away from that place. To hell with them, let them do their own damn fighting. But no...

Turns out that these enemies – the Heartless – were more than a simple plague. They were truly menacing foes which had terrorized our home and many other worlds. Frankly, I didn't remember squat about it, nor did I mind. My fight was not with the Heartless: for the longest time, I had been trying to track down a royal son of a bitch that deserved the most horrible death I could give him. And just when I had thought that I had gotten a clue, these guys appear and I stupidly decide to lend them a hand... Fan-freaking-tastic.

On top of all of that, over half of them were complete assholes. Ranma and Ryoga were totally oblivious of everything that was happening; they were clueless boneheads. And I don't mean that they didn't know about the Heartless, because they'd fought against them in the past: they were just plain dumb. Akane and Sakura were idiots as well for actually putting up with those dickheads. Felicia was a stupid brat that wanted to be cute and failed miserably at it.

Ryu and Ken... well, actually Ryu and Ken weren't complete jerks. Ryu was a pig and, if he kept up eating at the rate at which he did, would put an end to our food supplies very soon. But his dedication to martial arts and his quest to understand the meaning of being a fighter, although completely worthless, in my opinion, was noble and perhaps even admirable, in the sense that he worked towards a goal and didn't let anything stop him. Ken was a clown and could prove to be really annoying; but his jokes were funny from time to time and he knew when to shut his mouth.

Ukyo and Wilheim were the most decent folks of the lot. He had a very peculiar way of speaking. Every time he said something, I'd turn around and look for the rest of the knights of Arthur's court. It was funny to see someone as young as he speaking as if he had come from the fifteenth century. Strangely enough, it suited him well. Ukyo was a really smart girl who knew when to speak and when to shut up. She made very accurate comments when she wasn't quiet. Both of them were really strong: they had much potential. And it was nice seeing them together, even though they were the cheesiest couple you've ever seen. Despite all of this, I could see they were a pair of goodie-two-shoes, and that could mean trouble for me in the future.

For now, however, I chose not to think about it and tried to get along as well as I could with them and Ryu and Ken. It was kind of tough, though, with the rest of the other pricks about. Oh, and let's not forget that Marmalade Jam still hadn't waken up from her beauty sleep. That bitch really knew how to make me run out of patience in the blink of an eye.

_(Change of scene)_

"Man, I'm sick of eating canned food and ramen soups," Ken complained, looking at his cup of instant food with a bit of disgust. I couldn't blame him. After all, it had been two days of ramen soups and canned food only already. "I'm sure my kidneys would very much appreciate another sort of dish."

"Well, you'll have to settle with what we have, Ken," Ukyo said. "We should be grateful that Ryu brought the ship with him."

"We have to land soon, we're running out of food," Ranma said. "How far is our destination?"

"Which one?" Felicia asked. "I mean, you guys haven't exactly told me where you want to land."

"You haven't told us the options, Felicia," Akane giggled.

"Yeah, you have a point... Let's see..." she murmured, getting a hold of the ship's log. "The way I figure it, we're not that far from Hollow Bastion. But I don't think that any of us want to go there, right?"

"We won't get food there if that's what you mean," Ken answered.

"Okay, so that's a no... Maybe we could stop in Agrabah..."

"How far is it from here?" questioned Ryu.

"Looks like about a week," Felicia replied, rolling her eyes to herself.

"That's out of the question then," Sakura sighed.

"How about Hyrule?" asked Ukyo.

"That one's worse: two weeks away from here, at the least," the were-cat replied.

"That's a shame," Ryu said. "We would've eaten like kings there."

"I would not know: I never got to visit that land," Wilheim added. "Although I would surely like to, especially to reunite with valiant Link and fair Aeris."

"Let's talk about reunions later," Felicia said, a bit stressed about the situation. Indeed, we needed to land and find provisions as soon as possible, thanks to Ranma, Ryu, and Wilheim, mostly, who were compulsive eaters unable to restrain their freaking appetite, despite our complaints.

"What about Halloween Town?" Ken suggested.

"Um... jeez, you guys sure know how to pick 'em," she sighed and shook her head.

"Well, what about the Olympus Coliseum?" Wilheim asked.

"Let me check... Oh!" she said, her eyes lightning up. "At last! A decent one! That one is two days away from here."

"Damn... I don't know if my kidneys will take two more days of ramen soup," Ken whined.

"Two days is less than a week, Ken," Ryoga said.

"No shit, Sherlock," I whispered to myself in a low voice so that nobody would listen, rolling my eye.

"The Olympus Coliseum it is," Felicia said and got behind the ship's controls.

"Either way, we can try and land on another world if we see one," Ukyo suggested. "Chances are we'll find food one way or the other. We'll be out of ramen soups and canned food in a very short time and those are the only things keeping us alive, despite Ken's complaints. For the time being, we'll have to strictly ration them, which means, only two soups for one person per day."

"Just two?!" exclaimed the three troglodytes I mentioned a bit ago.

"Yes, two," she repeated, firmly. "You'll just have to control yourselves in the mean time."

"Oh, well," Wilheim sighed. "I will do what I must. I just do hope that there will be some food to eat upon our arrival at the Coliseum or at the new land we will be stepping on."

"Whichever comes on first, baby. But don't worry: it'll happen."

There was silence for a few seconds, which I welcomed very much. I began to smoke my pipe, thanking the moment of peace and hoping that it would last a while. But stupid Ryoga had to open up his damn mouth.

"Why are there Heartless about, still?"

"Beats me," Ken answered. "But one thing's certain: if they're still roaming the worlds, Sora and the others must be up and they're probably kicking their butts."

"That doesn't answer my question, Ken..."

"It was just a freaking comment: that wasn't an answer," I intervened. I really hate it when people keep searching for answers from someone that already said doesn't have them.

There was an awkward silence for a few moments (naturally), and then they went on, trying their best not to pay attention to my intercession.

"Maybe there's a keyhole we missed, or something..." Akane guessed.

"I bet Sora knows more about all this than we do," Ryu said. "It's useless to go on about it if we can't find any answers."

"Well, either way, I'd really like to know what's up with those robots that attacked us," Sakura said. "They really freaked me out."

"They were not after us, I deem," Wilheim said. "They were after that girl – Jam. We got in their way and were henceforth attacked. I should expect her to know about this matter..."

"Jam? Are you shitting me?" I cried, turning to him. He let out a single laugh and quickly shut his mouth. I don't know why that kid laughed every time I said bad words... "She won't know a thing about those robots, believe me."

"How can you be so sure?" timidly (yet dryly) asked Akane after a few moments.

"Because she's a moron."

"I don't think she's that stupid," Ranma quickly said in her defense. As if he knew her... "You've got to have some brains to own a restaurant. Like Ukyo, you know."

"'Some brains'?" Ukyo defiantly questioned, placing her hands on her hips. But before Ranma could answer her, I retorted:

"Like I said before, thinking with your cock again, smartass. You only say that because you think she's hot," That resulted in complains and whines and a laugh from Wilheim which was quickly shut up by the were-cat, who angrily hit him on the back of his head.

"You don't have to be so rude, you know!" Akane cried.

"I wouldn't have to be if your boyfriend wouldn't be such an idiot, kid," I replied, giving her an angry stare. I really didn't want to give explanations to these jerks.

"Okay, okay, enough of insults," Ken said aloud, putting an end to the uproar. "Just let her be, guys. I don't think she's in the mood for talking."

"Well, she should watch her mouth," Ranma growled. "Otherwise, next time I'll—"

"You'll what??" I defied in a raised voice. That completely shut him up. "I can cut you down in a matter of seconds, genius. So it's best YOU watch your mouth. Think before you speak: a terrible task for you, no doubt, but quite simple for the rest of us."

"Easy, easy, Baiken," Ukyo said. I merely spun in my chair, facing the other way. "There's no need to recur to that sort of animosity."

"Psche. Whatever," I muttered.

"You must try to control yourself, Baiken," Wilheim went on. "I know you do not like Jam: you have made that point clear. But we are on this all together and we need you to remain a companion to us. Your ferocity and strength will be most helpful on the battlefield, I deem. Yet if you must unleash them, do so against the Heartless; or against those robots if we meet them again."

I made no more replies and kept on smoking my pipe in silence. But before long, Ryu asked me: "Is she a good fighter?"

As he spoke, I heard some of them whispering him to be quiet and not to disturb me. Either way, Wilheim's knightly speech had sort of calmed me down, so I decided to at least answer that.

"I don't like to speak highly of her, but I don't like to tell lies, either: yeah; she is a pretty good fighter. She caused me a lot of trouble when we met. She's fit enough to give you a headache, should you face her in a fight."

"I see. That's good to know," Ryu said. "The more skilled fighters we have on our side, the merrier."

And just as he said this, we heard slow footsteps that slowly approached the cockpit. No doubt that was Kuradoberi. I couldn't help but to let out a grumble and to look in the other direction. Given, her arrival would take me off the spotlight for a few minutes. But she would drive me much madder than Akane, Ranma, Ryoga, Sakura, and Felicia together...

"Ah, look who's finally woken up!" Ken exclaimed, relieved to be out of the tense moment, I should think. I heard him get up and go greet her. "We were beginning to get worried about you, girl."

"...Um, thanks..." she replied in that high-pitched voice I can't stand.

Actually, Jam is my antithesis when it comes to voice pitches. Whereas she gives the impression of being a half-starved canary, some people have called me 'sir' because of the pitch of my voice. Of course, I've practically knocked those persons' jaws off their faces, but that's not the point here. It was actually sort of curious, to have her on the same ship, complete with our two entirely different voices. Although I would've surely appreciated it if she had gone mute. But I'm not that lucky.

"Where am I? What happened? Who...? Well, I have a lot of questions..." she sighed.

"I'm not surprised. Perhaps you should sit down..." Ukyo invited.

"What happened to my restaurant?" Jam quickly asked as she took a seat.

"It was burnt to the ground," Ryu answered as delicately as he could.

"No way...!" Jam muttered with a nearly broken voice. "I worked so hard to get the money to build it!" she remained silent for a few moments. The others said nothing and nor did I. "Those goddamn arsonists did that! Sons of bitches... I'm gonna kill them when I find them for that!"

"Well, there's no need for that..." Ryoga intervened. "Those were robots and we already took care of... some. I think there are more out there."

"Well, I'm gonna get all of them and the guy who made them, whoever he is..." she paused for a second and then said: "You... I saw you once or twice at my restaurant... And you too..."

"Yeah, we've been there some times..." Ranma answered timidly. "The food was really good."

"I'm sure it was," Akane muttered. I noticed anger in her voice. Honestly, I don't know why the hell she didn't just beat the living crap out of that jerk. Perhaps because she was just one herself...

"And... where am I?" Jam questioned.

"You're safe at the moment," Ryu said. "This all needs some explaining, I'm sure. Don't worry: we've got time, so we'll tell you all you need to know."

"Yeah, I'd like that," Jam said. "Thanks, I suppose. So you guys saved me?"

"Actually, Wilheim here was the one who did that," Ken said and I heard him playfully slapped the boy on his back. "The rest of us were just in charge of keeping those robots off his back."

"And you did a very good job, my friend," Wilheim chuckled, returning the love tap.

"Well, I..." Jam began to say and paused for a brief instant. Then, her voice underwent a very dramatic change... it turned into a sensual murmur. "Well, aren't you the handsome one... Did you save me, hottie?"

"Uh, I... well, I..." Wilheim stuttered shyly. I swear, men are impossible. Of course, Ukyo wasn't going to stand still without doing a thing. So she only recurred to loudly clearing her throat in order to put a mark on her territory, so to speak.

"Get in line, sister, I saw him first," Jam said. I smiled to myself and eagerly waited to hear Ukyo's reply.

"Excuse me??" she cried. The rest of her companions could do nothing but to contemplate the scene silently. "In case you don't know, you're a little bit late, sugar! My name is Ukyo Kuonji and I'm Wilheim's girlfriend, thank you very much!"

"Yeah? Well, my name is Jam Kuradoberi and I'm sure Wilheim's just with you because he hasn't found anything better yet."

"I really do hope you're not talking about yourself," the girl defied.

"Wow, Wilheim, I had no idea you could have that effect on women," Ken said in a low voice. I don't know exactly what happened after that; my guess is that Ukyo have him a killer glance so he would shut the hell up. "Sorry..." he hastily apologized.

"Listen, I do not believe you should fight over this matter," Wilheim intervened. "Miss Kuradoberi, although I am most flattered, I must assure you that I am Ukyo's and no one else's."

"Well, for the time being, I bet you are," Jam answered. "But don't worry, handsome. We'll talk again when she's out of the way."

"Jeez, you really are a pain in the fanny," Ukyo grumbled.

"Right back at you, Kuonji," the chef challenged.

Since Ukyo and Wilheim were the only folks of the lot I sort of liked, I decided to lend them a hand against that bitch.

"What did I tell you?" I said aloud. "A real pain in the ass, isn't she?"

"What the hell?" Jam immediately contested. "Who else is there? I know that voice," Without answering, I spun in my chair and faced her. "You!" she shouted. "What the devil are you doing here?"

"Same thing as you," I answered. "And, just like you, I bet, I'm not the least happy to be breathing the same air as you."

"This is just great! All that I needed to make my staying here even more unpleasant! As if having this one around isn't enough!" she exclaimed, pointing at Ukyo.

"You're really pushing your luck, you know," the latter grumbled.

"Okay, time out, time out!!" Ken shouted. "Back to your corners, ladies! We're pretty stressed out already as it is. Please, don't make things worse by quarreling amongst you."

"Seriously, we need Tish or Camille..." Sakura muttered. "They were good at stopping fights."

"Yeah, I know," Ken went on. "My point is that, like Wilheim said a while ago, we're all together in this. If we want to make it through, we're gonna have to work with each other. And believe me; knowing the Heartless, it'll take all of our strength and a lot of teamwork to pull through."

The three of us remained in silence for a few moments. For my part, I innocently smiled at Jam and blew some smoke on her face.

"Okay, whatever," she said, turning around. "I'll try to be at peace as best I can. But, one way or the other, you're mine, sweetheart," she told Wilheim, winking at him. Ukyo only limited herself to roll her eyes, throw her arms up in the air, and walk away in anger. The boy himself looked away, turning bright red, and letting out a loud sigh. "Anyway, what's all this about the Heartless? And why is Baiken here?"

"Like she said, same reason you are," Ryu answered. "We were fleeing from the Heartless and the robots. We were repelling the robots and she came to help us. We had to escape and we used this ship to do so."

"She helped you? Seriously?" asked Jam. "Wow. I mean, that's odd... she thinks only of herself."

"I'm not very different from you in that department, sister," I calmly replied.

"Girls..." Ken muttered.

"Yeah, yeah, right," Jam hastily said. "Sorry, old habits die hard. Either way, you were saying...? About the Heartless...?"

"Yeah... about them..." Ryu said. He took a deep breath and then explained Jam everything they had told me about the battles they had in the past with the Heartless. Naturally, it took him pretty long to do this. In the end, I ended up exiting the cockpit and went to the kitchen to eat some food. I hadn't eaten much during these last days and I believe I had earned an extra helping.

After a while, Ukyo came in and joined me.

"You were right..." she said in a low voice.

"I know I was," I answered. "I told you, Kuradoberi is a royal pain in the ass. Really, you have no idea how hard it is for me to be in the same room with her."

"Yeah, now I know why..."

"You can only hope Wilheim doesn't yield to her charms. Jam's just after your boyfriend's cock. No offense."

"No, none taken..." she replied, giggling nervously. I liked the fact that she didn't reprehend me about by my foul language. She, Wilheim, Ryu, and Ken didn't seem to mind about it, thankfully. "But I don't worry about that. I know Wilheim loves me and that he wouldn't leave just for... a single night."

"Yeah, I hope. As far as I know, Jam likes them young and pretty, like your man. Even Ryu and Ken are too old for her taste."

"It wouldn't work, either. Ken's engaged to another woman and Ryu... well, he's into other stuff, I think."

"He's gay?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, no!" she giggled. "No, I mean, he's into finding out the meaning of a true warrior and all that stuff."

"Oh, that. Yeah, he's a decent one, despite his eating habits..."

"Yeah... Baiken, can I ask you a question?"

"Besides the one you just asked?" I said. She stared at me shyly for a few moments and then lowered her head. "Shoot, kid," I said.

"Um... Why are you so mean to Ranma, Akane, Felicia, Ryoga, and Sakura?" she questioned.

"Because they're all a bunch of jerks," I answered.

"No, actually, they're pretty good people once you get to know them," she said. "Well, you don't have to like them."

"You're damn right about that."

"I'm only asking you to be a little nicer to them..."

I stared at her long and good. All she did was to shrug her shoulders a bit, putting a pleading stare upon her face. I let out a grumble and answered: "Wilheim and you are okay. Because of that, I'll try to put up with the rest of the idiots. Ryu and Ken I can stand. But the others... well, I'll work on it. However, on either case, stay out of my way, you hear? I don't want to dislike you and if you become a nuisance, I'll make you hate me."

"Fair enough," Ukyo said.

"Either way, don't ask me to stand Jam: that woman's a pest."

"I wouldn't, since I can't stand her myself," she sighed. "Anyway, enough about that..."

"Yes, enough," I said and took out my bottle of sake. I still had some left. I took a zip of it and kept it in my mouth to savor it. Man, I needed that.

"Is that...?" Ukyo murmured.

"Yeah. Very good, very strong," I answered.

"Can I have some?" she asked shyly.

"Aren't you a little too young to drink?"

"I'm eighteen already... besides, are you really going to go all motherly on me?"

I gave her yet another glance. Only that this time, I smiled and allowed myself a chuckle. I handed her the bottle and replied: "Nice one, kiddo."

_(Change of scene)_

"Land ho!!" exclaimed Felicia all of a sudden from behind the ship's controls. "Get your stuff ready, guys, we're going to leave this ship very soon!"

"Wow, that was sooner than we expected," Sakura said. "I take it that's not the Coliseum," she added, looking at the world the were-cat had just discovered.

"Nope, unless we somehow passed through a wormhole and managed to leave behind us one day and a half's worth of distance," Felicia answered. "So, what do you guys say? Do we land here or do we keep going to the Coliseum? Frankly, my kidneys are complaining just as much as Ken's. I don't care if it's just fruit; let's get out there and find something to eat."

"Fruit would be nice," Ken said. "My body demands potassium and vitamins." He turned to Ryu, who had reached into his backpack and had pulled out what seemed to be a somewhat torn white karate-gi. "You just can't leave home without it, can you, buddy?"

"We're surely going to do some battling, so I figure out it's more comfortable to wear this than jeans and a T-shirt," Ryu replied. "I've got a red one, too, in case you want it."

"Does it look like it's been thrown into the blender, like yours?"

"Somewhat..." Ryu said, with a smile.

"Oh, well... better than nothing, I suppose. Okay, I'll take it," Ken said.

"I have an extra uniform; a blue one," Ryu added. "Do any of you guys want it?"

"Wilheim should take it. After all, you were his master once," Sakura giggled.

"Oh, you're getting into a karate-gi, handsome?" Jam asked Wilheim, eyeing him lustfully. I was really seconds away from slamming her head into the ship's controls, and I bet Ukyo didn't feel any different. "I'm usually not into guys that wear those sorts of suits, but I reckon you'll look pretty hot."

"Royal bitch..." Ukyo mouthed, gritting her teeth.

"I... no, it's the first time I will be wearing one..." Wilheim bashfully contested as he accepted Ryu's offering and took the old, blue karate-gi from his hands. He wasn't helping much either. And I could see Ukyo wasn't too happy about this.

"Okay, let's hurry up and land this thing," Felicia pressed, hastily taking control of the ship and flying into the world ahead of us. I suppose she figured out it was time to change the subject before someone punched Jam's lights out. "And... we're done!"

"Well, then let's take a look at where we are..." Ranma muttered, opening the ship's hatch.

We had landed in some kind of bamboo forest. The scent of the plants was very gratifying: I had smelled nothing but city air for the past weeks. The sky was blue and the weather was warm. Very welcoming, I have to admit, especially since the color of the bamboos was a green, lively one. They were all very tall and seemed very resilient. There seemed to be a road made out of dry dirt ahead of us which led God knew where. Either way, it was better than staying in the ship, I guess. We didn't doubt that there would be food about. We exited the ship and in an instant, it shrunk enough to fit on the palm of Ryu's hand. He hastily put it in his backpack.

"What the hell was that?" Jam asked.

"The Gummi ships are magical machines," Ryu explained. "They grow big and shrink to very small sizes in certain areas that have magical energy. I think we forgot to explain that a while ago..."

"Well, no worries... as long as you don't lose it."

"Don't be troubled: I won't do that."

"Now then, what's the plan?" Ken asked. "Get food and get out of here? Or should we go see if there are Heartless about?"

"If there are, we're only going to be able to slow them down on their invasion, but we won't be able to stop them completely," Ukyo said. "We need Sora to lock the keyhole – assuming it still works that way – to zap their power completely."

"Okay, let's scout the area. And no more fighting, please," Felicia begged. As you might have expected, this had the opposite effect...

"I don't have a problem, as long as Kuonji accepts the fact that I will get Wilheim," Jam mused.

"Goddamn it!!" Ukyo cried. "Are you doing this just because you like him or just to piss me off??"

"Ukyo dear, please..." Wilheim began, but she pushed him aside.

"If you're not going to help me, then, please, be quiet," she snapped.

"Do you really want to hang on to that, dear?" Jam chuckled, pointing at an enraged Ukyo.

"Goddamn it, Marmalade Jam, shut the fuck up!!" I exploded. "I'm tired of your bullshit, so you better quit your yapping before I decide that we should start carrying you in cans of sardines!"

"I'm ready and waiting, Cyclops!" Jam challenged. That was really much more than I could take.

"You asked for it, and now I'm going to give it to you," I snarled, grabbing my sword.

"WHOA!! Easy, easy!!" Ken shouted, putting himself between Jam and me. "Girls, time to switch to decaf," he raised his eyes to the sky and murmured to himself: "My kingdom for Tish or Camille..." and then he spoke with us again. "You two better start getting along or find an effective way not to even look at each other. Remember: we're together in this, so we're going to have to start to watch each other's backs," and, facing Ukyo, he added: "And that goes for you, too."

"I wasn't doing squat, and then—!!" Ukyo began to yell, but was interrupted by Felicia.

"Just don't pay any attention to it!" the were-cat said.

In the end, a tension silence befell us. Wilheim simply walked away from the rest of us, his sword hanging by his back, his eyes set on the road ahead. I merely gave Jam a long hard stare to which she replied by locking eyes with me for a few seconds. Then, we all began to move silently behind Wilheim.

"I am starting to believe I need a drink..." the boy muttered.

We kept on walking through the bamboo forest. There didn't seem to be any Heartless or any of those cursed robots about. There were many animals about, for we could hear their sounds, but there was no one on sight. Yet after some minutes, we heard some other sorts of noises... a human voice. They looked at each other and raised their guards. With a nod, they kept on advancing. For my part, I simply grabbed the hilt of my sword firmly and (aside from resisting the temptation to cut Jam's tongue off) stepped forth.

We reached a clearing where a beautiful, big, black horse and its rider stood. We caught both of them by surprise and they leapt back in alarm. The rider was a soldier who was wearing what seemed to be an ancient Chinese armor on. It was similar to that of a samurai and had a green color. He wore a light brownish robe beneath his protective covering and a pair of oriental, small shoes. His frame was fairly small and skinny: not very warrior like. He had black hair tied into a small ball and a very delicate face. So delicate, in fact, that I began to doubt very much that this was a man. And as we approached to ask for directions or for some place where we could get food, I became sure of this.

"...Hi!" 'he' greeted with a nervous, shaky voice, which turned out to be more feminine than the one of a model. Realizing this, 'he' quickly cleared his throat and said, with a faked, manly disposition: "Hi, there, fellas! It's good to see other soldiers around here! Are you guys going to the camp as well? Oh! You've got swords! Hey, I've got a sword, too!" taking his hand to his waist, he grabbed the hilt of his blade and tried to pull it from its sheath, but clumsily dropped it. Turning bright red, he picked it up with a nervous laughter.

"...No offense, man, but you don't seem to be very skilled..." Ranma murmured.

"Oh, I was just joking!" said the soldier, forcing a manly laugh. "You know, we soldiers like to tease each other, right?"

"...Right..."

He remained standing still, smiling at us, desperately trying to convince us with that he was a male.

"What the hell are you trying to prove, sister?" I finally asked aloud.

"...Uh... What are you t-talking about??" SHE stuttered. "I'm as much m-man as the next guy!"

"Yeah, Baiken, try to go easy on him... We don't even know him," Ryoga said in a low murmur, turning to me. I looked at him with shock, unable to even tell him what a magnificent imbecile he was. But it only got worse...

"Try not to pay heed to that, my friend," Wilheim added. "We just arrived to this place and are looking for food and supplies. Incidentally, have you not noticed any monsters about? Not to alarm you, my good man..."

"Um... no..." she replied, shaking her head.

"Okay, never mind, then," Ken said. "Sorry about that, dude. It's just that... we're sort of hungry."

To this point, all of the women were staring at the men, unable to believe how stupid they all were. Noticing this, they turned to us with innocent glances.

"What? He is a man, you know, despite what you believe..." Ranma said.

"Oh, my God, I don't believe men!!" Felicia cried. She beat me to it, actually. "Are you all completely clueless?? She's a woman!"

"No, she's not," they all said at once. Among that reply, I noticed another voice which didn't belong to any of us. It had come from the woman's back. Turning to her, I was amazed find out a little red being that hid behind the woman's neck as he noticed my glance.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Um, what w-was what?" asked the woman, insisting in sounding manly.

"Don't try to make a fool out of me, sister. I'm not like these guys. You have a talking lizard behind your back, I saw it," I assured. And, as an answer to my statement, the furious little being climbed down the girl's body and challengingly stood in front of me. It really did look like a red lizard with a yellow stomach and small claws. It had long, yellow mustaches, a pair of little, blue horns, big ears and eyes.

"I'm a dragon!!" he whined, to my amazement. "Not a lizard. I don't go around there poking my tongue out!"

"...Now I've seen it all," I said to myself, still unable to believe my eye.

"Believe me, you're far from seeing it all, Baiken," Ukyo assured, walking beside me. "Hey, there. What's your name, little guy?"

"I'm Mushu, the mighty guardian of the Fa family!" he replied with a cocky air. "I'm escorting my dear protégé... eh..." he muttered, turning to the girl.

"Um, Ping!" the girl hastily said.

"Ping??" the dragon murmured, making a weird face. Yet after an instant, he turned back to us and went on. "Yes, Ping! I'm escorting Ping to the camp where the Imperial Army is meeting. He will leave for battle soon and I'm in charge of protecting him. Because, like I said, I'm the greatest guardian of the Fa family!"

"...This is too weird," Jam murmured, scratching the back of her head.

"For once we agree, Kuradoberi," I said.

"And I don't think that it's very nice of you to be calling my Ping a girl!" Mushu said. "Now, go on, off with you! Shoo, shoo!"

"Um, excuse me, Mushu," Akane said, approaching the lizard. "I don't mean to be rude to you... or to Ping... but she doesn't make a very good impression of a man."

"Excuse me??" cried Mushu, placing his hands on his hips.

"Why not?" asked the girl and this time, her voice was feminine. At last she had stopped trying to fake it. "I mean, I have to be convincing... What am I doing wrong?"

"Oh, no, you blew your cover!!" Mushu exclaimed, slapping his forehead. "You know what? I give up..." he sighed, sitting on a nearby stone, letting his head rest on his hands.

"Hold it!" Ken shouted. "You mean you're actually a woman??"

"Did you honestly buy that she was a man?" Sakura asked.

"Well... in my defense, all of us did," he replied, speaking, of course, about Ryu, Ranma, Ryoga, and Wilheim.

"You guys really need to work on your common sense a bit," Ukyo sighed.

"So, what am I doing wrong?" Ping asked.

"For starters, you didn't even know your name," Sakura said.

"...Okay. For now, and only to you guys, I'm Mulan," the girl confessed. "Nice to meet you, I guess... but please, give me some pointers."

"...Well, your voice doesn't sound manly at all," Jam dared to say now that she had recovered from the shock of seeing Mushu. I too was doing better now.

"Well, I can't make it manlier," Mulan sighed. "I can't speak like her..." she said, looking at (what a shock) me. I limited myself to frowning and held my breath, certain that Jam would obviously take advantage of the opening stupid Mulan gave her. But, shockingly, she just said:

"Maybe, but she doesn't fake it. It's not that it's not grave enough... you need to be more authentic."

"But, why would you want to pretend you're a guy?" Akane asked.

"Oh, I forgot you're new around here," Mulan said. "It's like this. My father's very sick and can't attend the Emperor's call. They want him to return to the army to fight off against the invaders that have been wreaking havoc on our country. But he's old and his leg is very hurt; I know that he wouldn't survive. That's why I'm going on his stead... However, the Imperial Army doesn't accept women. And if they find out I'm one, I'll get killed."

"Damn..." Ken muttered. "That's awful."

"Yeah... so, as you can see, I need to make a really good impression."

The guys looked at one another for a few moments and then sighed. Ukyo, however, seemed to have an idea.

"You know, Mulan, we could always go with you..." she said.

"What??" we all exclaimed. "Ucchan, are you out of your mind??" Ranma added.

"Guys, come on, don't tell me you don't think that the army Mulan is talking about are the Heartless," Ukyo replied. "If we go with her, we'll be able to face them with many allies. That's better than just fighting them off by ourselves, don't you think? And we'll get to have food and water and I can guarantee there won't be any ramen soups that will mess up with your kidneys."

Well, what can I say? Smart girl. But there was still just one fatal flaw with her plan.

"The idea isn't bad, Ukyo," Ryu said. "But, it's just that, it's twelve of us, and half of you are girls..."

"So?" replied Ukyo. "We can get some uniforms and dress up as men. It's not that hard."

"I don't know, Ukyo..." Ken added. "It's kind of difficult. Because all of you have very girly faces... and besides, you've got... well..." he stuttered. "You've got... um..."

"We've got boobies, Ken, just spill it out," I grumbled, making the men laugh nervously (especially Wilheim) with that remark.

"Well, yeah," he said. "I was trying to soften the blow, but, basically, that's it."

"Let me remind you, Ken, that Mulan is very girly too, and none of you guys noticed," Sakura intervened.

"...Good point."

"Besides, dressing up as a man isn't really that hard," Ukyo said.

"Oh, yeah!" Ryoga exclaimed. "I remember now that you used to dress as a boy some time ago when you went to school!" Ukyo glared at him with fury in her eyes. I had no idea why the hell she did that, nor was I interested in knowing. The point is, that asshole was just giving Jam ammo for her to continue her assault on the girl.

"You don't say?" Kuradoberi said mockingly. "You know, that doesn't surprise me much."

"Jam, please, stop it," Wilheim finally said. "This is beginning to get on my nerves..."

"Okay, okay. I'll stop, honey, just because you're the one asking me. But what I said before still stands," she answered, winking at him yet again. Indeed, there was no stopping her. At least that got Wilheim off Ukyo's black list for the time being.

"Well, if you're so certain about this..." Felicia intervened, quickly changing the subject yet again. To be honest, the were-cat was slowly beginning to change my opinion about her being a complete idiot. "Mulan, why don't you tell us where can we get some uniforms and then we'll be on our way with you?"

"So you'll do it?" asked Mushu. "More companions? Yes!! Mulan, girl, I knew right from the start this was all good news. You're lucky to have me as your guardian, girl!"

"Um, right..." Mulan murmured. "Well, there's a place where they have some armors for the Imperial Army's soldiers. Maybe I can give you some money to buy them. But you don't have to go if you don't want to. I don't want you to get into any trouble because of me."

"The place from where we came from is being attacked too," Ukyo said. "And I think we have a common enemy. Because of that, we want to help you beat it."

"If you're so sure about it then, you can go and buy twelve uniforms," Mulan said with a big, thankful smile. "I appreciate your help very much," she added, bowing. "Excuse me but, I haven't asked you what your names are..."

"Oh, my name's Ukyo Kuonji," the girl replied. "And these are my friends: Ken, Ryu, Ranma, Akane, Felicia, Sakura, Ryoga, and Baiken... this one here is my boyfriend, Wilheim... and that one is Jam," she concluded dryly. I couldn't help but to draw a faint smile upon my lips.

"I see. Pleased to meet you. From now on, you should call me Ping," she said.

"You know, Ping was actually my best friend," Mushu intervened. "Although, now that I think about it, Ping stole my girlfriend—" before he could continue talking rubbish, Mulan snatched him and put her hand on his mouth, smiling shyly.

"Yeah, you have a point there, Mulan... er, Ping," Sakura said. "We're going to have to change our names as well, now that I think about it." She remained thoughtful for a few moments and then said: "I'll go by the name of Tarou. What about you, girls?"

"How does Hiyama sound?" Akane suggested as for her new name.

"That's good. I want to be Clark," Felicia said with a smile. "Clark Kent, to be more precise."

"Oh, give me a break!" Ken laughed.

"It works, doesn't it?" the were-cat giggled. Just when I was beginning to think highly of her...

"I'll remain Ukyo," the girl said. "There are some men called Ukyo, too, so you guys won't be too confused about it."

"Yes, there are a lot of new names to learn," Wilheim said.

"What about you, Jam?" asked Ryu.

"I don't know. Can't think of anything... Why don't you give me a name, Wilheim?" she said, smiling at the boy.

"You're just a... Why...! You know what? Just give her a freaking name," Ukyo told Wilheim, exhausted. The boy sighed and nodded.

"Well, the only name that comes to my mind is Reinhart," he said. "What do you think about it?"

"Sounds sexy. I like Reinhart," Jam chuckled. I simply rolled my eye and struggled to keep my comments to myself.

"And you, Baiken?" quickly asked Wilheim, before either Jam or Ukyo could say anything else. "What would you like to be called?"

"I'll stick to Baiken as well," I replied. "It means 'lonely fist'."

"Yes, but it could also mean 'noisy plump'," the boy retorted, with a tender smile. "And I am most certain that you did not pick your name. Your mother and father surely named you after that: I don't believe in 'lonely fist'."

Without knowing it, he touched a sensitive spot. I had not spoken about my family for a very long time. However, I thought about them all the time. That's another story, though... I didn't get angry at him or anything. I only stared at the ground for a few moments, without saying a thing, an expression of sudden melancholy upon my face. Nevertheless, I at last said: "No, Baiken is fine. I don't think they'll ask too many questions. Let's leave it at that."

"...Very well," Wilheim murmured and I noticed in his voice he had realized it was better not to try to argue with me regarding that issue. I was really thankful to him for that.

"Well, now that it's settled—" Ken began, but Mulan interrupted.

"I forgot!" she exclaimed. "You need to have the summoning form in order to get accepted into the army!" and with that said, she showed us a scroll which had been issued to her father. "Now what do we do?"

"Leave that to me," Jam said. "I have very pretty handwriting. It won't take me long to make a dozen forms. Some names will be hard to spell, though... especially the one you gave me, Willie."

"You did ask," Wilheim answered, stupidly, smiling.

"Well, in the mean time, I think Ryu and I should go to get our armors," Ken said. "Shall we?"

"Very well, let's get to it," Ryu agreed.

_(Change of scene)_

Ryu and Ken returned shortly with the armors in their arms and suiting clothes for the occasion. Leaving it on the ground, they were quickly driven away by Ukyo, with the rest of the men.

"Out, out, out!" she said. "We're going to have to undress, so I don't want any of you to watch. And I swear to God, if I find any of you peeking, you're going to regret it for the rest of your life, which won't be that long."

"That's a promise we all make," Sakura added.

"Just keep walking for about five minutes until we can't even hear you," Jam said.

"Okay, get going guys... Whoa, hey!" Ukyo exclaimed, grabbing Mulan by her arm as she started to leave with the men. "You stay. I'm going to try and fix some other things that give you away."

"Oh... all right. I appreciate that," Mulan answered, with a smile.

And with that said, the men left with smiles upon their faces. I don't know if that was because they were anxious to see us dressed up as soldiers of the Imperial Army or because they knew we were going to be naked. Either way, it wasn't too thrilling.

"Whatever you do, Kuonji, I'm not cutting my hair," Jam warned. "You better find a way to make it look manly while it's this long. There's no way you're laying a finger on it."

"Don't worry, Kuradoberi, you won't have to cut it off," Ukyo grumbled. "We don't have to cut our hairs. We'll just have to either tie them into ponytails or hide them under our garments."

"I don't know; I wouldn't mind cutting my hair," Akane murmured.

"That's easy for you to say: yours is short and it looks good on you that way," Jam said.

"What about me?" asked Felicia. "I don't think things are as simple with me..."

"No, actually, you're going to be quite a task, Felicia," Ukyo replied. "But I'm going to try to do my best. Well, I want everyone just to stay still and try to relax... and to shut up," she added, glaring at Jam.

After a while of battling with our bodies and clothes, Ukyo finally managed to turn us into decent soldiers. Even so, the armor was killing me, because it was so tight across my chest... yeah, I have big boobs, so what?

Whatever the case, I was just going to have to learn to live with that for the moment if I wanted to cause a good impression and not to be discovered. And the more I thought about all this, the more I regretted my decision to climb onto these Boy Scouts' ship.

"Guys! Where are you?" shouted Akane. "We need your opinion on this!"

"Coming!" they cried.

"Okay, girls, stand in line," Ukyo instructed. "I want them all to take a look at everyone."

We did as we were told (even Jam, thankfully) and waited for the men, who quickly arrived to our location. They were also wearing the armors already and looked like authentic soldiers. Standing still, they all looked long and good at us in silence. Some of them rubbed their chins and Wilheim couldn't help but to smile and try to hide his face behind his hands.

"What? Don't we look like men?" asked Ukyo, as she noticed this.

"Well, you..." Wilheim began to answer and paused for a long time as his eyes strayed to the skies as he searched for the right word. "You do look like men. Yet you look like... very pretty men."

"Yeah..." the rest of them muttered, nodding their heads. Even Mushu agreed with that.

"There's nothing we can do about that," Felicia sighed. "But, we do look like men, right?"

"Well, sort of," Ken answered. "We do know who you are, after all."

"Do we look as... delicate as Shun?" asked Sakura.

"Yes, that's it. Shun is the man with the most feminine face I've ever met," the fighter answered. "But he still looked like a man."

"Okay, that's good, I suppose," Akane said.

"Okay, you've got the looks, now we need the attitude," he added. "First of all, you need to drop all feminine behavior."

"I know, we won't whine, we won't shout, we won't go 'Awww' or anything like that," Felicia said.

"It's not that simple," Ken replied. "There are little details that you sometimes do involuntarily and they're a dead giveaway. You're going to have to try to suppress those as best you can and act manly. Like jerks, because I think that's the easiest way to imitate us... For instance, you—Hey! Jam! Exactly what I'm talking about," he interrupted himself, turning to Kuradoberi.

"What? What did I do?" she quickly asked.

"You bit your lower lip," Ken contested.

"So what? A lot of people do that."

"Yeah, but it gives you away. You look very... um... okay, in order to avoid having Baiken take the words out of my mouth, I'll just spit it out: you look very hot when you do that."

"That wouldn't have been my choice of words," I grumbled.

"...Really?" Jam asked, with a smile. Ukyo couldn't help but to grit her teeth with anger.

"Well, let's hear what the judges have to say," Ken added, turning around to the other men. "Guys, what do you think?"

"Yeah..." they all answered shyly. Ranma and Ryoga turned bright red and looked away. Wilheim tried to remain cool, but he also blushed. Jeez, such imbeciles... "Yeah, she looks very pretty when she does that."

"Oh, yeah, add my vote to the count," added the lizard. Damn, even he was an idiot with hormones in place of brain cells.

"...Okay, I'll try to cut that out," Jam said, of course, feeling most proud of herself. Damn bitch...

"Okay, what else...?" Ken muttered, looking at each and every one of us.

"I have a pointer," Wilheim suddenly intervened. "This one is for Felicia."

"What about me?" asked the cat-woman.

"Do not smile," the boy said.

"What?? Don't smile?? Are you crazy? It's impossible to tell that I'm a girl just because I smile!" she complained.

"No, actually, Wilheim's got a point, Felicia," Ryu said. "You've got a really cute face. You look like a kitten when you smile. It's so very cute."

"Oh, thank you!" she purred happily.

"Felicia..."

"Right, right. No smiling; got it."

"And no meowing or purring, either," Ryu added.

"Jeez... I'll try my best," she sighed.

"Okay. Now that we have that settled, walk around," Ken said.

Shrugging our shoulders, we did as we were told.

"Mulan, what are you doing?" asked Ranma, with a laugh.

"I'm walking!" she replied.

"Yeah, but you walk as if you had just got of a horse you rode for two weeks," he explained. I have to admit, that was a pretty good one. We all chuckled at that. Even me.

"Mushu!" she exclaimed, turning to the little dragon. "You said this is how men walk like!"

"I told you how to do it; it's not my fault you get it wrong," Mushu replied, smiling innocently.

"Okay... so, how should I do it?"

"Just walk normally. And remember, none of you are wearing high heels now," Ken said, turning to Jam.

"Okay, I got it, I got it!" the chef chuckled.

The correction session went on similarly to what I have described above. The ones who got corrected the most were Jam, Mulan, and Felicia. Sakura and Akane got only a few pointers. But Ukyo and I were not even spoken to. I take it that this was due to the fact that she, according to Ryoga, had passed for a man in the past, while I'm as feminine as Die Hard's John McClane. And, while I didn't care jack about not being corrected, I could see Ukyo wasn't too happy that she didn't even get a pointer. I suppose that this led her to think that she wasn't as pretty as stupid Jam-Long-Legs-Kuradoberi. I could see it on her face as she simply looked at the ground and let out a little, depressed sigh. But her boyfriend and the others were simply too busy aiding the other girls to notice this. I felt a bit sorry for her, but I wasn't exactly in the mood for comforting her.

Additionally to all of this, it was decided that Jam and Felicia would do best not to say a word. The cat-woman sounded very much like a kitten and Jam's voice was so high pitched that even the lamest man would be able to tell there was something fishy about her. The guys told them that, if there was really no choice and they had to talk, that they should try to grunt as much as they could and should only use one-syllable replies, such as 'yes', 'no', 'shit', and stuff like that. Well, that last one was my suggestion. They didn't like it, but they didn't shun it either. The rest of the girls learnt how to make their voices as authentically manly as possible. Again, Ukyo and I were not given any feedback, because simply we didn't need it. Especially me, I should say, when it comes to the voice department.

"Okay, I suppose that's that," Ken said. "Well, then it's off to the camp, right? But I don't think that any of us know where that is. Mulan, you lead the way."

"Understood," Mulan replied, nodding her head. She climbed onto her horse and said aloud: "Follow me, guys. And from now on, let's call each other how we agreed we would."

"You got it, Mu—I mean, Ping," Ryoga said. "Well, let's get going. Shall we, Tarou?"

"Aye, aye, Ryoga," chuckled Sakura and they began to walk holding hands. This was immediately noticed and pointed out by everyone.

"I don't think they're going to be too happy to see two 'men' holding hands, guys," Ranma observed. "I guess that goes to Akane and me, too, and to Ukyo and Wilheim."

"It's Hiyama, Ranma," Akane corrected.

"Sorry. It won't happen again," said the boy.

"It'd better not," I said. "One false move and they'll want to take off our heads. And I won't sell mine cheap, make no mistake about that."

"Understood," Ranma replied, nodding. Well, one thing was certain: I sure as hell wasn't glad to be there, but at least I was sort of getting along with all of them by that time. At least, there had not been any heated arguments since Wilheim had asked Jam to calm down.

And so, Mulan – Ping – led us outside the bamboo forest and to the Imperial Army camp. It wasn't difficult to find. We were on high ground and there, from far away, we could see hundreds of tents on summit surrounded by a protective wall made from wood. There was a lot of movement, for it seemed that many soldiers were just arriving. This was our case, even though the documents we had were completely bogus, although – I hate to admit – Marmalade Jam had done an excellent work in writing those fake scrolls. She had gone to great lengths to even make up several generations for our phony families.

As we arrived at the camp, our stomachs leapt with joy. Everyone was making a line in order to get a bowl of steamed rice. I could only hope that it didn't have even one grain of salt. Any more of it and my kidneys would've burst.

The soldiers didn't look very much like competent warriors. Actually, by the look of them, I would be surprised if one could spin a sword without cutting off all of his fingers. None of them seemed to have a body that even looked like that of Ryoga's or Ranma's, much less one similar to Ryu's, Wilheim's, or Ken's. They were skinny, half-starved farmers called to protect their country. It was hard for me to think of them of anything more than cattle. I could've been mistaken... Sadly, though, I was dead right.

We didn't waste time and hastily got in the line. Meanwhile, Mulan left her horse somewhere safe and then joined us. Unfortunately, she tripped as she tried hard to keep on walking like a man and crashed against one of the folks in front of us: a short man with a beard and a mustache. He had an angry, yet funny face and a black eye. He was accompanied by other two guys: the first was the perfect example of one of those half-starved warriors I've mentioned. He had a cheerful expression upon his face, as did his other companion. This one was a bald giant who was as wide as Ryu and Ken together. Despite his size, he looked fairly peaceful and had an innocent smile drawn on his lips.

Mushu quickly hid inside Mulan's armor as she bumped into the short man. The latter turned around with a growl and stared at Mulan straight into the eyes. She smiled nervously and waved.

"What's your problem, pal?" he defiantly asked. "You should watch your step, pretty boy, or I'm gonna punch your lights out!"

"Hey, if I were you, I'd listen to Yao," the skinny man chuckled. "He looks like he means business!"

"If that's the case, Yao better watch it," Ryoga threatened, stepping forth. "Because, if you mess with M—Ping, you mess with me as well." That idiot saved it at the last instant...

"Oh, so you've got more pretty boys to watch your back, huh?" Yao groaned at Mulan. "That doesn't matter! I can take you all!" Yet before he could leap on to the attack, the gorilla behind him playfully grabbed him and began to rock him from one side to the other.

"Yao, calm down," he said. "We don't want to start making enemies so soon! Come on, calm down... We're all friends, right?"

I don't know if it was because of the fact that this guy could crush him if he so much as wished it or if Yao really did listen to his words. In any case, all he could manage to do while under the mountain's grasp was to roll his eyes and let out a sigh.

"Friends..." he grumbled.

The giant smiled innocently and lowered Yao to the ground. This one merely gave Mulan another menacing glance and turned around without saying anything else. But, according to Murphy's Law, which is always right, if something seems to be going well, then there's something wrong that's about to happen.

"Hey, Mulan!" whispered Mushu in a very low voice from inside her armor. I think only Felicia and me heard him... "Punch that guy in the arm! He'll take it as a friendly gesture."

Mulan shrugged and did as she was told before the were-cat or I could stop her. The shove was tougher than it looked, I think, and made Yao trip with his feet. His head ultimately landed on the big guy's stomach and bounced back, leaving him dizzy and confused. Yet things were only bound to get worse. Under the instructions of the idiotic lizard, Mulan slapped Yao on his butt. With that love tap, even I would've beaten the shit out of her. The short man glared at her with fire in his eyes. This time, he wasn't (rightfully, I have to admit) let it go just like that.

"Okay, pretty boy," he snared. "You asked for it!" and with that said, he threw a punch at Mulan's face. The latter ducked under Yao's fist, which hit Ryoga right in the jaw. This one wouldn't just let the short guy get away with it. As he grabbed Mulan and prepared to break her teeth, the fighter kicked Yao, who bounced back and crashed against the gorilla's stomach. The skinny man leapt onto the attack, attempting to hit Ryoga on the chest, yet Ranma stood before him and grabbing his arm, slammed him against the ground.

Before we all knew what was going on, the rest of the soldiers began to attack us for no reason. Typical of men: they see someone throw a punch and just to prove their manhood, they leap onto the fight. In the middle of the racket, the rice bowl got knocked down, leaving us without food. That really pissed me off. On top of things, one of the assholes hit me on the back of the head. Enraged, I turned to him, grabbed his face and slammed him as hard as I could against the ground. Once there, I kicked him on the stomach, leaving him out of air. Getting into the environmental mood, I got into the riot and began to punch the lights out of anyone I could find. Actually, I think everyone of us got into the fist fight. Felicia and Akane may have been the only possible exceptions, although I can't tell for sure. Mulan, however, just lay on the ground, covering her head with her hands, doing nothing...

"ENOUGH!!" cried a voice from behind us. Everyone froze where they were and turned to the man who had spoken. He was a tall, manly soldier with a splendid armor. He had a red cape and a serious glance on his eyes. He was actually the only one of all the soldiers who seemed worthy of respect; most likely because he was a high ranking officer...

As the soldier approached the crowd, Yao gave one last quick punch to the guy he was holding (a John Doe, that is). After that, everyone stood up and signaled at Mulan, screaming: "He started it!!" Of course, I must exclude myself and my companions from said multitude.

The girl shyly left her fetal position and got to her feet. The warrior approached her and asked calmly: "Is that true?"

"Um..." Mulan muttered and then smiled cockily and said, with her phony man-voice: "Well, you know how it is, right? We men like to punch each other around! Come on, guy, don't tell me it's not like that!" and so she threw a playful punch at the soldier's arm. Our reaction? Slap our foreheads with our hands...

"What's your name?" asked the soldier, this time not so calmly.

"I... My name is Ping," Mulan answered.

"Let me see your summoning form," demanded the warrior.

Silently, Mulan reached for his pack and gave the papers to the man. Just as she did this, from one of the tents, came out another guy. This one didn't seem like a solider: he didn't even have a uniform. He wore blue, fancy clothes, a tall hat and was ugly like you wouldn't believe it. He had long, thin mustaches and an old face that could've scared the crap out of a Doberman. He held a board and a pen and approached the soldier as he red the papers Mulan had given him.

"What was the meaning of that?" he demanded in an old, hoarse voice. "That was completely barbaric! Do you have any idea what the enemy will do to us if you keep up this stupidity?!"

"The Fa family?" muttered the soldier, seemingly surprised. "Does that mean you're the son of Fa Zhou?"

"Um, yes," quickly answered Mulan.

"Strange... he never mentioned he had a son," the warrior murmured thoughtfully.

"No wonder: the boy is a loon," the man next to him whispered. Shaking his head, the soldier returned the papers to Mulan and then said aloud:

"Listen, everyone! Thanks to your friend Ping here, you're all going to have a lot of fun! From now on, you'll eat half a ration per day! This will go on until I've seen you're mature enough to take things seriously!" Yeah... he was definitely a high ranking officer. All the soldiers cursed Mulan under their breaths and slowly formed a line in front of the man. Mulan could do nothing but to keep on muttering repeatedly: "Sorry..." but that didn't take away the fact that she had done a pretty stupid thing. Hell, even we were a bit mad at her...

"Very well, soldiers, listen up!" shouted the officer. "My name is Captain Li Shang. And when I see each and every one of you, I see a man that isn't ready to defend his country! I hope one of you proves me wrong, but either way, I'm going to make sturdy, worthy sons of China out of you." He paused for a moment and looked at the troops to see what effect he had caused so far. To tell the truth, we were half asleep from his corny speech. "The enemy has entered China. We have to protect her. And, in order to avoid a gruesome death, you're going to have to do as I say. We fight for our country and for honor. As an honorable man, I ask you to work with me so that we can succeed in our mission. Any man who defies me, however, will have to deal with me."

"Oh, I'm shaking in my boots..." muttered Yao in a low voice.

"Yao!!" exclaimed Li Shang. The startled soldier nearly peed on his pants as the captain pulled out a bow and an arrow and aimed at him. "Congratulations!" he shouted, turning around and firing the projectile at a nearby pole. The arrow reached the highest spot and there it stayed. "You're a volunteer. Get the arrow back to the ground," commanded Li Shang.

Frowning, Yao stepped forth and bowed semi-respectfully.

"I'll do that, pretty boy," he groaned in a low voice. "And you'll see how easy that turns out." He approached the pole and got ready to climb it, but Li Shang stopped him.

"Hold on!" he said. Yao turned to him, frowning even more. He then noticed that Li Shang had to golden weights on his hands. Turning to the soldiers, he added as he attached them to Yao's arms: "This weight represents strength, and this one represents discipline. Only one that has both of them will manage to pull the arrow out of the pole and bring it to me." And with that said, he got away from the short man.

Yao began to climb the pole as best as he could, but the weights kept him from going far. He even bit the pole, desperately trying to hold on to it, yet failed miserably. After him, the skinny soldier and the gorilla tried their lucks. They didn't even come close, either. Finally, Li Shang ordered Mulan to retrieve the arrow. She fell flat on her ass in less than five seconds. Rubbing it, she returned to the line with the rest of us. Li Shang simply shook his head and let out a long sigh.

"We have a long way ahead of us," he muttered to himself. "Okay... Seeing as you're all so useless, at least I want to see how well you can fight. This time I trust you will do so orderly," he added, eyeing Mulan, who timidly looked away. "All right, you two!" he said, pointing at two soldiers. "What are your names?"

"Yung, sir," answered the first.

"Long, captain," contested the second.

"Let's see what you can do," Li Shang said.

The two men battled against each other right away. It was truly a pathetic spectacle. It was more like seeing a match of the WWF. Obviously, though, they didn't know jack about wrestling. They threw girlie punches and hit each other like a couple of ten year olds fighting over marbles. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and I think that Li Shang felt the same way.

"Back in the line..." he finally muttered, feeling defeated himself. "Very well, let's see if some one else knows how to at least throw a punch..."

Two by two, the soldiers stepped up to the field and showed Li Shang their fighting skills. They all sucked big time. It was like watching a crippled fight, even though these guys weren't crippled. Heck, I'm missing an arm and I could've killed all of them without even breaking a sweat. The captain kept on asking people to show what they were made of and the more he saw, the more convinced he become they were all crap. Yet, he wouldn't give up. Not one of them was any good. If this was all China (don't ask me how the hell we ended in that country or at that age) could offer against the Heartless, then they were all as good as rotting carcasses. Until...

"Gods, please grant me patience..." begged Li Shang in a low voice as he approached the next contestants. "What's your name?"

"My name is Wilheim, sir," answered the boy.

"Wilheim? Strange name... Well, it doesn't matter. You're next. And you will be his sparring partner..." he said, turning to Wilheim's opponent, waiting for him to speak his name.

"Ryu, captain," the fighter answered.

"Do your best," sighed Li Shang and held his breath, hoping that these two wouldn't be as bad as the platoon of buffoons we had just witnessed. Destiny was kind to him this time.

The two fighters faced each other off. Ryu removed his helmet and tightened his headband and gloves. Wilheim mimicked him and respectfully bowed. Afterwards, they both assumed a fighting stance and the match began.

I must say, I hadn't been able to pay much attention to them last time we had fought because I was more busy killing the Heartless about me. Yet now that I saw them with full attention, I was quite impressed with their skill. Ryu's moves were precise and fascinating. He was a most intelligent fighter, able to discover his opponent's weak points in the blink of an eye. He was quick to choose the right attack and counterstriked without fail. Wilheim, on the other hand, still had much to improve. Although he was a very good fighter, he didn't know how to capitalize on an enemy who was open to an attack. He was also much slower than Ryu...

Ryu let a flurry of punches and kicks rain upon Wilheim. He dodged a few of them, blocked most of them and got hit by some others. Despite what I've said about the boy, he handled pain quite well, and that gave him advantage over Ryu in that sense. This became notorious when Ryu delivered a powerful kick to Wilheim's chin. The boy reeled back and shook his cranium a few times, yet his back never touched the ground.

Li Shang was impressed. He looked at the two fighters with a satisfied smile upon his face as they waged their battle. And moments later, he became even happier...

Wilheim blocked one of Ryu's attacks with his left fist and then delivered a brutal straight punch at his stomach. Ryu reeled back and fell on his knees for a moment as the soldiers emitted a loud "Oooh!" the moment they heard the sound of Wilheim's fist upon impacting on Ryu's skin. This was where the boy's true power lay: in his ability to take punches and to deliver them with frightening strength.

Both of them unleashed some very potent and wonderful skills that gained the admiration of all the soldiers and Li Shang's respect. They were disciplined and strong: just the things the captain craved for.

Ryu leapt at Wilheim and hit him on the face with a flying fist; then, he delivered a powerful uppercut with his right arm, followed by another one with the left. The boy fell flat on his back, but rolled back to his feet in an instant. As an answer to this, he leapt on the air and attempted to deliver a mighty kick at Ryu's face. The latter ducked underneath it just in time. The boy's foot hit nothing but air, yet made a terrible noise, like the one of a cannonball soaring through the air, making the amazed soldiers gasp in fascination.

The fight went on longer than any other. At long last, though, Li Shang stepped forth and said: "All right, that is enough. Back to the line, soldiers."

Ryu and Wilheim bowed to one another and then, the fighter offered his fist in a friendly fashion. With a smile, Wilheim gently punched it and said: "That was an excellent fight, Ryu."

"You're strong as a bull, Wilheim. Congratulations," answered the man and so they did as they were told to.

Li Shan strolled in front of the two men, still smiling. He looked at them and said: "I have never seen that fighting style before in my life. Yet, I am amazed by your skills." Turning to Ryu, he added: "You're a terrific fighter, Ryu. I congratulate you and am glad to have you among my troops."

"Thank you, sir," Ryu replied.

"And you, Wilheim..." said the captain, gazing at the boy. "Perhaps you could work on your skill just a bit. But your strength is unlike anything I've seen. With fists and legs like that, the enemy will tremble before your might. Excellent job."

"I am much obliged, captain," Wilheim answered, bowing reverently.

"Now then..." Li Shang boomed, glaring at the rest of us. "Is there anyone else around here at least as good as these two?"

None of the soldiers dared to raise a hand or to utter a word. Indeed, we were all very impressed by the skill Ryu and Wilheim had just displayed. For my part, I didn't feel like fighting at the moment. It wasn't like I had something to prove. I wasn't willing to punch anyone's lights out for the time being, unless I had no other choice. And I don't think that any other warrior wanted to step up to the ring after seeing those two in action. But, activating her teacher's-pet mode, Kuradoberi decided to raise her stupid hand.

"Very well, we have a volunteer," said Li Shang. "Let's see if you're as good as you say..."

"Reinhart," said Jam in a most hoarse voice.

"What was that?" muttered the captain, tilting his head forward.

"Reinhart," repeated Jam, a bit more loudly.

"...Let me see your summoning form," asked the captain. The woman hastily gave her the scroll and Li Shang read it in silence. "Reinhart..." he muttered. "A lot of warriors with strange names about... Well, that's unimportant if you're good. All right, who wants to fight against him?"

If there was any remote possibility that this newcomer could be as powerful as Ryu or Wilheim, then no one would dare take his chances against him. I thought Li Shang would have to face Jam himself before anyone found the courage to raise a hand. However, I had momentarily forgotten about someone who wanted to beat the living shit out of Jam just as badly as I did...

"Very well, Reinhart, it looks like we've found you an opponent," Li Shang announced as he approached another warrior who had hastily raised his hand the moment the captain had asked for another helper. "What's your name?"

"Ukyo, Captain Li Shang," answered the girl with a convincingly manly (but very soft) voice.

"Let's see what you can do," said the captain and stepped aside as the two nemeses stepped to face each other off.

"Oh, boy..." Ken, who was standing right next to me, murmured in a low voice. "This is going to get ugly. I don't think Jam will enjoy this too much..."

"To be perfectly honest..." I whispered back. "I'm more worried about Ukyo."

"Are you kidding? That girl's a twister, and she's worse when she's mad."

"But I've fought against Kuradoberi before, remember? Like I said, though she's a real pain in the ass, she's an amazing fighter. Frankly, I'm not sure Kuonji will do very well."

The two fighters reluctantly bowed to one another and the fight began right away. Ukyo leapt at Jam with a flying kick to her face. Kuradoberi stepped aside and then counterattacked. She let a flurry of punches and kicks fall on Ukyo and finished her with a spinning kick to the face. The girl rolled over the ground and quickly stood back up. Without wasting a second, she raced at her opponent as fast as she could. Jam tried to receive her with a kick to the stomach. Foreseeing this, however, Ukyo slid through the ground and tried to knock her to the ground. But the woman leapt over the girl and landed behind her. As Ukyo got up, she received a brutal kidney punch, followed by a combination of speedy attacks to almost every part of her body. The soldiers gasped and shouted, amused by the beating Ukyo was taking.

Ukyo then began to block some of Jam's attacks and kicked her on the side of the stomach. Jam stopped Ukyo's foot with her arms and merely reeled back, without taking any damage. Unwilling to give up, Ukyo pressed on the attack.

The girl amazed me. Even though one could clearly tell that she was enraged and had chosen to fight Jam out of spite, she wasn't fighting badly at all. Her movements were quick and precise and she was most agile. What was more, the angrier she got, the more focused she became and the more strength she gained as well as accuracy with her attacks. But, in spite of all of this, Jam was a very superior fighter and was way more skillful than Ukyo.

For her part, the woman was unmistakably dominating the fight. Every attack Ukyo threw at her was answered by a huge combination of punches and kicks, delivered strategically and mercilessly to Ukyo's most open parts of her body. She didn't have a single scratch on her body: that bitch's dexterity was simply too great for the girl to handle.

Very soon, Ukyo was bleeding from her nose and mouth, while Jam had barely broken a sweat. Tired as she was, the girl refused to surrender. She rushed at Jam once more and tried to sweep her off her feet. Jam leapt into the air and landed on Ukyo's leg hard. The girl grunted in pain and took a few steps. The woman elbowed her face with great strength, nearly knocking her down. Seeing as the girl wouldn't allow herself to be floored, Kuradoberi followed her last attack with a combination of three punches to the stomach, one more to the face, three kicks to the legs, and a fourth to the head. The girl fell flat on her stomach, unable to hold her ground. She rolled away and stood up again. I could see she now had a black eye and many cuts here and there all over her face. I wouldn't be surprised if even one of her cheekbones was broken. Yet Ukyo's will was unconquerable. She attacked yet again. Jam limited herself to defend her body against the girl's attacks. I think that even she realized the girl had taken way too much punishment.

Even so, as Jam blocked one of Ukyo's punches to her face, the girl spun on her feet rapidly and delivered a powerful, certain blow to Jam's stomach with her elbow. The soldiers applauded the attack as the woman found herself out of air. Nevertheless, her missed breath turned into rage and she decided to put an end to the fight once and for all. She hit Ukyo on the face once more with the back of her fist and then leapt at her with a powerful kick that knocked her off her feet. Jam landed behind her and before Ukyo even hit the ground, Kuradoberi delivered a potent punch to Ukyo's thigh, making her yell in pain for the first time. It was then when Li Shang took a step forth and cried: "Enough!"

Jam stepped back and held her stomach, catching her breath from that last attack, staring angrily at Ukyo. Yet her rage vanished quickly as she saw that the girl lay on the floor unable to move. She breathed hard and moaned in a low voice, letting her blood ebb onto the grass.

I closed my eye, bowed my head and shook it. I really didn't need to see that. And then, I turned to my friends and saw their faces. They were all shocked to see their friend so hurt and amazed, I should think, to see Jam in action. Moreover, I should think, they were really worried about Ukyo and I could see that they desperately wanted to go to her side. However, we had to obey the captain's commands if we were going to keep on playing this charade. We would only move if he asked us to. Naturally, Wilheim found himself on the verge of giving a rat's ass about this and running to his beloved's side. However, Ranma and Ryoga held him and whispered to him to keep still. Despair invaded his face and tears assaulted his eyes...

Li Shang knelt beside Ukyo and examined her. This was when things got most dangerous. Li Shang was seconds away from finding out that Ukyo was a girl... If he removed her armor, we would be completely screwed. Thankfully though, all he did was to signal two other warriors to help Ukyo get up and take her back into the line. "Form up," he instructed Jam. The woman nodded and obeyed silently, while the two unknown guys helped a limping Ukyo walk back to the line.

"Boy, he screams like a girl," one of the soldiers beside me murmured to his neighbor and they both chuckled in low voices. Closing my eye again, I merely tightened my fist and restrained myself from shoving it into that asshole's mouth. Somehow, don't ask me why, I didn't like to see Ukyo in that deplorable state.

"All right..." Li Shang said as Jam and Ukyo went back into the line and stood firmly (as best as she could, for Ukyo's part, anyway). Turning to the woman, he murmured: "Amazingly done," to which Jam only nodded and smiled. Then, he looked at Ukyo and said: "Your skills are not bad, Ukyo, but you're not the warrior I expected. You need to train a lot more if you want to be as strong as your companions. And, as much as it pains me, I'm obligated to tell you that your wounds will not be an impediment for your training. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," Ukyo answered, with a weak, heartbroken voice.

"Let Reinhart, Ryu, and Wilheim's fighting skills be an example to you all!" Li Shang exclaimed. "Your real training will begin tomorrow. Remember, soldiers: China is at war, and we need strength and discipline. That's all for today. Dismissed!" he shouted and then left, with the man dressed in blue following him closely.

Still fascinated by our companions' skills, the soldiers forgot their anger against Mulan and went to congratulate Wilheim, Ryu, and Jam. The rest of us, however, went to Ukyo's side to see how bad the situation was. Her face had been completely rearranged, so to speak. A broken cheekbone (like I had suspected), a black eye, a broken lower lip and plenty of scrapes and bruises here and there, and those last ones were not just on her face, but all over her arms and legs as well, and I reckon the rest of her body was no different... It was a real mess. Beside that, her thigh was very hurt and she could hardly walk at a normal pace. Jam had literally kicked the shit out of her.

Wilheim, as much as it pained him, could only limit himself to rubbing her back caringly. I could see that he wanted to hold her and kiss her, but that would've raised way too many questions amongst our fellow soldiers. Ukyo was unable to speak clearly and every time she did, her face contorted with pain. Tears escaped her eyes with every word she said.

"I am sorry I could not help you, Ukyo..." Wilheim murmured with a desperate voice.

"I fought my best..." she replied. "I can't believe I lost so badly. I thought I was a good fighter."

"You're a good fighter, Ukyo, make no mistake about that," Ryu intervened. "But, no matter how good you are, you have to remember there will be always someone better."

"Let me see what I can do, Ukyo..." Mulan whispered as she carefully examined her face.

"Thanks, Ping... Feli— I mean, Clark..." Ukyo muttered. "You wouldn't happen to have a potion with you, would you?"

"I'm sorry, honey, we used them all back at the ship," the were-cat replied.

"Clark, cut the 'honey' crap out!" I whispered harshly. "Are you a man or a pussy?"

"...I could be both," she answered in a very low voice, allowing herself a very faint smile which she quickly erased from her face. "Sorry, Baiken, you're right."

"Hey, Kuonji..." said Jam with her phony, hoarse voice as she approached us, followed by a large number of soldiers. I didn't care if Li Shang was a respectable captain that wanted discipline: if Kuradoberi bragged about this, I would have at least one of her hands. Ukyo turned to her with defeated eyes, while the rest of us looked at her with justified anger. Amazingly, though, Jam wasn't there to pull the 'You got owned' shit... "You have quick attacks, but you wait a lot between punches and kicks. Against slower opponents, you could've easily landed a very brutal combination. But you have to be a bit faster. Also, you have to retract your legs a tad more quickly. Whatever you do, don't let the enemy catch your legs. And if they do, break free immediately by attacking with the other one. You just need practice..." and then, after a pause, she added: "Sorry I went so hard on you."

"...All right..." murmured Ukyo, seemingly shocked by Jam's words. In fact, we were all speechless. Jam nodded and left... but not before giving Wilheim a quick glance and smile. It was then that we (the women, at least) realized what all of that had been about. As the soldiers left with her, Ukyo smiled briefly and let out a low laugh. "That freaking bitch," she whispered to herself and stopped grinning due to the pain.

"Ukyo, you've got to give her some credit," Ryoga said. "She didn't talk big about her victory and she apologized. You shouldn't talk about her like that."

"If only her intentions were as good as you think, Ryoga..." Sakura sighed.

"Um... is this a woman thing we don't know about?" Ranma whispered.

"Apparently so," Felicia muttered.

"She only said those things because she wants Wilheim to like her and drop his guard," I explained, glaring at the boy, who, obviously, was shocked to hear this. "If he wouldn't have been around, she would've bragged about this, believe me. But she's not stupid..." and after a small pause, I said to him: "She really wants you, kid. You'd better watch out, because she won't stop."

"I do not believe that she is as mean as you say..." Wilheim replied. The obligated uncomfortable silence followed that idiotic statement. Yet, before I could answer, Ukyo beat me to it.

"And you're actually falling for it," she said in a voice filled by indignation, sadness, and anger all the same. Wilheim turned to her in amazement as tears of pain and sorrow escaped her eyes. Before he could say a thing, however, Ukyo, feeling terribly humiliated, I deem, leaned on Mulan and said: "Help me sit down somewhere quiet, Ping..."

"Sure, Ukyo," Mulan whispered and helped Ukyo walk away from us. Wilheim tried to follow, but the girl raised a hand, commanding him to stop. Seeing that there was no point in arguing with her at the moment, Wilheim lowered his glance and sighed sadly.

"Don't worry, girl, we'll have you fixed in no time..." Mushu whispered from inside Mulan's armor as she kept on helping Ukyo. Akane, Sakura, and Felicia caught up with her moments later, while I walked away from the men, who stood close to Wilheim, and sat down at a lonely spot to smoke my pipe. Then, the two men who had mocked Ukyo approached me and sat beside me.

"Did you see the beating that sissy took from that guy?" asked one of the assholes with a big smile upon his face. I glared at them with fire in my eye and threw my fist at both their faces, leaving them unconscious. No one saw anything. Noticing that I would get away with this one, I let out a low laugh and dropped some ashes from my pipe fall on those two's heads.

_(Change of scene)_

We woke up very early the following morning and hastily ate breakfast. It was the first time in days since we ate anything other than ramen soups, so the meal was most welcome and we took our sweet time to finish it. Ukyo was unable to finish her food, because it was much too painful for her to chew. Her face had sort of gotten worse. Well, that tends to happen with bruises like hers. She'd be fine in a few days, I reckoned. We could only hope that she would feel in condition for training so that it wouldn't be as painful...

After beating the hell out of her, Jam barely spoke to Ukyo and when she did, she didn't do so to tease her or anything. After the massacre, I think it was only fair for her to turn down the bitchy attitude. However, that didn't mean that she'd give up on trying to get Wilheim. She constantly spoke to him to ask him for advice (give me a break), or just to tell him how good he looked (she had to whisper this, of course). Stupidly, Wilheim thanked her for her compliments and replied very kindly. I swear that boy was just about to become as annoying as the other stooges. And, because of this, Ukyo didn't even look at him. Every time he tried to approach her, she would go away and tell him to keep his distance. She never raised her voice or acted violently. This clearly led every one of us to understand that she was terribly hurt and upset... Well, that was definitively bad news for the rest of the soldiers.

Li Shang ordered us to warm up for a few fights against our fellow warriors. After that, he spoke to Wilheim, Ryu, and Jam. He asked them to help him train the troops as best as they could. He just needed them to know the basics in martial arts: we didn't have much time before we met the enemy and it would be very hard for him to have us all ready; those were his words. Before that, however, Li Shang ordered us to have some duels. He broke us into several groups and said the fights should be done by elimination. That is, the winner keeps on battling until he loses.

I ended up in the same group as Ukyo. She volunteered for being the first to fight. As she stepped into the fighting ground, most soldiers laughed and mocked her and many raised their hands, asking for Li Shang to let them battle her. I was a bit concerned that Ukyo wouldn't be able to fight her best, given her appalling state. But the girl was mad and had to let out her anger in some way. When I realized this, I decided that it would be better just to stay out of her way as long as possible.

Noticing the soldiers' enthusiasm on the very thought of being an opponent to Ukyo, Li Shang shrugged and picked one of them to fight against her. The overconfident man stepped up against the girl with a cocky smile. Cackling, he signaled Ukyo that he would overthrow her without a problem. I almost pitied the twat.

Li Shang ordered that the fight commenced. It didn't last longer than five seconds. The guy stepped forth and tried to hit Ukyo on the face, to which she answered by sidestepping. Following this, she threw her fist at the man's face with all her strength. While she was unable to use her full power, it sufficed to make the man take a few steps back, and then, with spinning eyes, he fell flat on his back, nearly unconscious.

The rest of the soldiers looked at Ukyo with amazement and gulped. Li Shang stood before her and said aloud: "Just because Ukyo lost a battle doesn't mean that his spirit has been defeated. Yesterday, when Reinhart emerged victorious from the duel, I never said Ukyo was a bad fighter: just not as good as Reinhart. Let that be a lesson to all of you: never underestimate your opponent." He then left to supervise another group. For her part, Ukyo looked at the rest of the soldiers and demanded with a dry voice:

"Who's next?" as a reply, the soldiers took a step back and glared at her with terrified eyes.

As the rest of the men took turns in getting the crap kicked out of them, I watched silently, puffing on my pipe. I really didn't wish to fight against her, but if I had to, I guessed I would go easy on her. Especially because, due to her rage, I felt she was unpredictable and could leave me in the same state she was if she was lucky enough.

As I sat by myself, I heard Ken, Ranma, Akane, and Sakura, who were standing near me, talking to each other about yesterday's fight...

"I don't understand why she lost so badly to Reinhart," Akane said.

"Yeah, I guess I'm just as surprised as you... um..." Ken muttered. Obviously, he had forgotten Akane's fake name.

"That's Hiyama," she reminded him.

"Right, Hiyama. I mean, after all, you guys had told me that he had been getting quite good. 'He's as good as Wilheim', were your exact words, I think. So, what happened?"

"Well, Ukyo is as good as Wilheim, but only when she has a weapon," Ranma explained. "On the other hand, when it comes to bare-hand fighting... Well, to put it in perspective, let's say she just surpassed me a few weeks ago."

"Wilheim has always been better at bare-handed fighting than Ukyo," said Sakura. "And he did have a lot of trouble getting better than us. But if Reinhart did that to him, imagine what he could do to us..."

"I shiver at the thought," Akane said. "He's a monster."

"Either way, I reckon that if Ukyo would've had his spatula or Wilheim's sword, the outcome of the fight would've been a lot different," Ranma said. "Ukyo is more skilled than any of us when he has one of those things. Of course, I can't say what would've happen if Reinhart would've had a weapon, too."

"He doesn't fight with weapons," I ventured to intervene. "He only fights bare-handedly. Perhaps Ukyo would've truly defeated him if he had possessed a weapon. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case."

"...Yeah..." they all said in a soft voice, nodding.

"You, soldier!" cried Li Shang all of a sudden and those four hastily looked away... The captain had addressed me. Time for some major butt-kissing, which isn't precisely my specialty. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded, pointing at my pipe.

"Taking a smoke break," I answered. I would've slapped my forehead on another occasion... That was quite a stupid answer.

"Put that thing out right now!" he ordered. "I don't want any soldiers to be inhaling that thing, got it??"

"All right," I answered, wishing he wouldn't be my 'superior', so I would be able to give him a black eye that matched that of the assholes who had mocked Ukyo the day before.

"Wait a moment..." he muttered, looking at my face. "Do you have only one eye?" It was really hard for me not to reply: 'Did you figure that out all by yourself?' to that question.

"Yes," I said.

"Do you think you can fight the enemy with such a narrow field of vision?" he questioned.

"I have fought many foes before and the loss of my eye hasn't been an impediment for me to kill them."

"I see... Well, if that's the case, then get back to train— pull your hand out of your sleeve!" he ordered, noticing my right side. Again, only men are dumb enough not to figure out the obvious...

"I would, sir, if I had a hand to show," I answered.

"You have no arm??" he asked, in shock.

"Severed up to my elbow," I answered.

"How do you expect to fight an enemy with one arm? You can't do that. Sir, you are unfit to remain with my troops. Pack up and please leave."

"Captain, if I may..." I said, getting up. Don't you mess it up this time, shit-head... I thought to myself. "Like I said, I have fought against many enemies in the past, and I still stand before you. I lost my arm when I was very young, and because of that, I have gotten used to do without it. While I may not be as efficient as Wilheim or Ryu when it comes to unarmed combat, I assure you, I am unstoppable when I have my sword in my hand."

"But you cannot even use a bow," retorted Li Shang.

"Yes, I can't use a bow," I admitted. "But I can fight better than any of the other soldiers with my weapon. If you want, I can give you a demonstration. I won't kill my opponent... Although I can't say if he'll be able to fight against the enemy after I'm done with him."

Li Shang quickly realized I wasn't just bragging without a reason. I believe he could see it in my eye. With a sigh, he finally said: "I'll let you tag along, for now. But the moment I see you're being inefficient or you get in the other soldiers' way, I'll send you home. Although I must say that I admire your devotion and love for your country. I wish more soldiers were like you..."

"Oh, it's Baiken, sir," I said.

"Yes, Baiken. Well, go back to training. And put that out," he added, as he got away from me, pointing at my pipe.

"Yeah... 'pretty boy'," I chuckled, remembering Yao's words and did as he told me.

"Hey, Baiken..." muttered Ryoga, who hadn't been far during my small meeting with the Captain. "How did you lose your arm and eye?"

"Ryoga, I don't know how to say this nicely, so I won't: you don't give a flying fuck, boy," I snapped, causing him to take a step back, and walked away from him.

After the duels were over (fortunately I didn't have to fight Ukyo), Li Shang began to train the soldiers in the use of bow and arrow. Naturally, I was excused from taking part in such exercise. The training consisted in launching a tomato into the air and then shooting at a mark, hitting the tomato while it was in midair. Quite a difficult task, it seemed: impossible for me.

This time, I could see that all of my companions were having just as much trouble as the rest of the soldiers adapting to the use of this rustic weapon, except Wilheim. The boy was almost as good as the captain himself and hit the marks with amazing accuracy. He was quick enough to hit even three tomatoes at the same time with three different arrows. The rest of the soldiers were lucky they didn't kill themselves with the projectiles...

Following this exercise, Li Shang trained us on cannon firing. This time, there was no excuse for me to sit back and watch. The purpose of the exercise was to hit a lonely mark several yards away from our firing position with flaming dragon heads. Every soldier, without an exception, and including me, had an awful aim. Not one projectile hit the mark... not one. It was truly pitiful. Li Shang wasn't the least happy with this, as you might've guessed.

Next, came balance. We were supposed to fend off a bunch of stones that were to be thrown at us from out fellow warriors with a Bo while maintaining a bucket with water on the top of our heads. Li Shang was the first to fend off the attacks and did splendidly. This time, we all showed what we were made of. My companions and I didn't get hit by a single pebble. Except, of course, Mulan, who lost her footing after the first three seconds and ended up all wet and bruised... The rest of the soldiers didn't do so different. Again, the captain didn't seem to be pleased.

And, to finish the day, Li Shang ordered that we should train with weapons. The moment I had been waiting for... Well, almost. Li Shang commanded us to pick up a Bo and instructed us on how to fight with it. Seeing as I wasn't able to handle the Bo very well (despite my performance in the balance exercise), the captain allowed me to use a wooden sword. I could see he wasn't too convinced with me so far... Until I showed him what I could do with a blade in my hand. When he saw my skill, he became as shocked and as fascinated as when he had seen Ryu, Wilheim, and Jam battle it out the day before. It came to me as no surprise when he approached me and told me that he would gladly let me stay with the Imperial Army. I did tell him so... And the rest of the soldiers became as fearful of me as they were of Ukyo. The fact that a few of them had also a taste of my fist surely had something to do with it as well.

By the end of the day, most of the soldiers were utterly exhausted and some of them were somewhat hurt. This was the case of Mulan: during warm ups in the latter stages of the day, she had even collapsed due to tiredness and had gotten herself a black eye during one of the matches. Seemingly, things weren't turning out too nicely for her. The rest of us, however, were doing just fine. Ryu, Wilheim, and Jam were admired; Felicia, Ken, Sakura, Ranma, Ryoga, and Akane fitted with the crowd, and Ukyo and I were feared. Not bad for our second day in the Imperial Army... Even so, the arrow Li Shang had shot the day before still remained at the top of the wooden pole. No one had managed to recover it still and we didn't want to do so: it was simply too easy. Besides, I didn't want to lose my status as a bully in order to put on a 'teacher's pet' cap on.

The following day started with a long march while carrying weights of stones on our shoulders. For my part, I had to do it with a single sack. Though heavy, I didn't even stumble under the burden. Li Shang was running alongside us and trying to see to it that all the troops remained together. Most of them seemed very tired, yet they found the strength to go on... except Mulan. This was pointed out by that revolting guy who had stood alongside Li Shang the day before – Chi Fu, if my memory does not fail me. The woman was constantly tripping over pebbles and her face revealed pain and tiredness. After a few minutes, she fell under the weight of the rocks. Li Shang went to her side and picked up the burden she was carrying and effortlessly took it with him. Mulan sighed unhappily and slammed the ground with her fist, hurting herself as she did. When no one but us was watching, Mushu came out of Mulan's shirt and tried to help her to her feet. Indeed, things weren't going well for her. If Li Shang was displeased with the soldiers' performance, Mulan was number one on his black list.

Ukyo still refused to speak to Wilheim. He repeatedly tried to make amends with her, but she wouldn't even allow him to say 'good morning' or anything of the sort. Few are the times in which I've seen someone so hurt. Of course, this came as great news for Kuradoberi. She was all but willing to give up on Wilheim... I swear, I had never been so angry to her before and that's saying something. Really, I wouldn't give a damn if Wilheim didn't have a girlfriend. They could fornicate all they wanted, as far as I was concerned. But to shatter a relationship just because she was hot for him... I admit I'm not a role model, yet I still have a pinch of decency. Anyway, enough of that.

During one of my smoking breaks, I came across Ukyo. Since captain amazing wasn't too fond of my pipe, every time I smoked I got away from everyone else in order to avoid getting yelled at. At first, she didn't even speak to me. She just forced a faint smiled and nodded. Seeing her as depressed as she was, I offered her my pipe so she could take a puff. She let out a single, low laugh and said: "No, thank you. I don't smoke."

"Suit yourself," I replied and went back to my pipe.

"It's just that..." she began. "I don't believe that woman. I thought that by kicking her butt she might stop. But... well, I was the one who got beaten up." She let out a sigh and then added, with repressed anger: "I wish I could've had my spatula with me. Then I would've really made her suffer."

"Well, it was a fist fight. As much as I hate to admit it as well, she beat you fair and square."

"I know, I know..." she sighed. "But I didn't think I'd lose that badly. She humiliated me in front of the entire Army, in front of my friends... and in front of Wilheim."

"You want my honest opinion?" I asked her, looking at her in the eyes.

She let out another low laugh and tilted her head down.

"This is going to hurt..." she muttered. "Well, I suppose I can't get a more honest opinion than yours, Baiken..."

"Is that a yes?" I pressed.

"...Yeah," she murmured.

"To hell with whatever the army thinks. Actually, they're scared of you because of the way you beat the living shit out of most of them yesterday. Your friends... though I don't like most of them, they're good companions, I should think. They know you win some and you lose some. As for Wilheim, I thought you were mad at him?"

"I am," she cleared out, surprised that there was something more about my honesty other than insults. "But I still love him, anyway... And I'm worried that he'll fall for Jam's trap."

"If he does, then he's an asshole," I said. "If he falls for that, then he's not worth it."

"...I don't know..." she murmured, looking grim.

I was about to say something else to her when I noticed that, not to far away from us, was a man in a black cloak. He was on his knees and seemed to be picking up a bunch of papers. Where he had come from, I had no idea. He was obviously not with the Imperial Army... I could only wonder if he was one of the Heartless guys or something else.

"Who do you suppose that is?" I said to Ukyo. She looked up at the man and then turned to me for an instant before walking to his side. Shrugging my arms, I followed her.

"Hey," she greeted. "Need any help?"

"I... yes, actually. I'd appreciate that," he said, turning to us. He had long, ashy hair tied into a ponytail, with some strands of hair in the front spiking downwards. He wore a pair of glasses over his clear-colored eyes, making him look rather sophisticated and intelligent – a different twist from the bunch of boneheads we had been living with so far. He looked one, maybe two years younger than Wilheim.

"I take it you didn't come to sign up with the Imperial Army, right?" Ukyo asked.

"No, I haven't," the boy replied. And it was a good thing, because at that time, we completely forgot that we were undercover and were supposed to act like men... not that I needed to pretend much anyway.

"So, what are you doing here?"

"I... um..." he stuttered.

"What sort of things are these? What do you work in?" I asked, taking a look at one of the papers he had just dropped.

"I... I'm a l-librarian..." he stammered, grabbing the paper from my hand, unsure whether to take it or not. "Yes, a librarian. Assistant l-librarian, actually."

"Are you nervous or were you just born like that?" I asked, releasing the paper.

"Baiken!" Ukyo scolded, giving me a quick glance. "It's okay sugar..."

"Y-yeah..." the boy muttered. "I-I'm helping with some e-errands..."

"What sort of documents are these?" I questioned, grabbing yet another paper. This one had pictures of a heart with an 'X' insignia crossed over it. And there was one other picture: a very disturbing diagram of a hand made of bone and steel encasing a heart as if encaging it. I looked at him with suspicion and puffed on my pipe.

"They're documents from a research," he answered, taking the paper off my hand, this time without hesitation. "A private research," he emphasized.

"I'd say..." I muttered.

"Baiken, give him a rest..." Ukyo said. "What's your name?"

"My n-name is Kexisoc," the kid replied. "Nice to m-meet you..."

"It's okay, sugar; calm down. I'm Ukyo," she replied.

"Baiken," I dryly added.

"Well, it's a pleasure," the boy said, a little more tranquil. "Now... where could she...? Oh!" he exclaimed as we turned to the direction he faced all of a sudden.

A dog was running toward us. A huge dog, I must clarify. It appeared to be a cross between a wolf and a husky, but even bigger than any of those. Nevertheless, it didn't look the least aggressive. It had a really gullible and dumb expression on its face. It was actually sort of cute. But very weird, nonetheless, mostly because it also wore a black cloak of the same kind Kexisoc had, only that it was made to fit it; that and the fact that the color of her fur was a surreal platinum silver which gave it the appearance that it was wearing a living armor.

"Oooh, he's so cute!!" Ukyo exclaimed as she looked at it with a girly, high-pitched voice."

"She, actually," Kexisoc clarified. "And, regretfully, we must take our leave. Thank you for the help..."

"But papa, I don't want to leave yet!" exclaimed a tender voice.

It had been the dog. I looked at it with a bewildered eye, unable to reason clearly for a moment.

"Did you just talk??" I exclaimed.

"...No, it wasn't me," the dog replied, turning a bit scared. If I would've not been as surprised as I was, my reaction would've been that of Kexisoc's: to slap my forehead with my hand.

"Oh, isn't she cute, Baiken?" Ukyo mused, not the least shocked. "She's adorable! What's your name, honey?"

"...My name is Oxieta," replied the mutt, forgetting her fear and panting happily.

"Great... first a talking lizard that claims to be a dragon and now this," I said to myself, giving a big puff on my pipe. "I thought I'd seen enough weirdness for a year..."

"Don't worry, sugar," said Ukyo, bowing to see Oxieta more clearly. "She's just not used to have dogs talk to her..."

"Oh... okay," she mumbled.

"How old are you, honey?"

"I'm one year old!" Oxieta energetically replied.

"One year??" I exclaimed. "What the hell have you been eating all this time?!"

Oxieta turned to me, her lips quivering and her eyes beginning to water. "W-What...?" she said in a nearly inaudible whisper.

"Oxieta, she's not implying that you're fat," Kexisoc hastily said, bending over to meet her face. "She's just amazed at how strong and big you are. Right?" he added, turning to me, as if hoping I would comply. Since he had hit the nail on the head, I immediately answered:

"Yeah, I've never seen something as freaking big as her!"

"Baiken, easy with the language... she's just a baby," Ukyo whispered with a nervous smile.

"YAY!!" barked Oxieta and began to run around excitedly. Ukyo laughed and leapt up and down and went all 'Awww' and blah, blah, blah; you know... sissy girly stuff. I didn't even move, but I didn't feel like kicking the mutt, either. After all, Ukyo had been right about something: she was just a baby. "Papa, papa!" she cried, biting Kexisoc's pants playfully. The latter simply rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. "I wanna help! I wanna help! I wanna—!"

"Hey, do you know how you'd be great help?" he interrupted, turning to her. "It'd be nice if you carried this," he added, grabbing one of his largest books and putting it in her mouth. Not only did this shut her up, but the weight of the book also made her lean forward in an awkward way. "She's just a child," he explained to us. "She calls me papa, because that's what she called her previous owner." He turned to her and patted her on the head. "Sweet, isn't she? In small doses, at least."

"She's lovely," Ukyo said and then, leaning toward Oxieta, she added in one of those stupid voices some people do when talking to animals: "You're so cute! You're so adorable!" Oxieta wagged her tail and tried to reply 'thank you', but the book in her jaw only allowed her to pant and whimper.

"Ah, there you are," suddenly called a voice. We all turned to it and noticed a man wearing the same type of cloak as these two. This one was much taller and had a stronger build. I couldn't see his face, for it was hidden behind the shadow of a hood. He approached us and said: "You're going to be late and you have never been... late. I was beginning to think something had happened to you."

"Oh, no, I'm all right..." Kexisoc replied. "But, like you said, I'm never late... Darn it, we have to leave."

"And you are...?" I muttered, eyeing the newcomer.

"Oh, I'm sorry... where are my manners?" the man said. "I'm Lexwhiim. And who are you?"

"Lexwhiim, these are Baiken and Ukyo..." said Kexisoc.

"Charmed," he said. He looked at Ukyo and his head remained still for the longest time. The girl noticed his eyes upon her and began to grow uncomfortable. Noticing this, the man turned away. "I beg your pardon," he said. "It's just that... I have never seen such a beautiful woman in my life." If he would've said that with another tone, I would've mistaken that as an escape phrase to excuse himself from staring at her still bruised face. Nevertheless, he had sounded very sincere.

"...Why, thank you," Ukyo replied, blushing and smiling. "I'd like to return the compliment, but I can't see your face..."

"Yes, I... I do have a problem when it comes to that. I apologize," he said, yet didn't remove the hood.

"Lexwhiim..." muttered Kexisoc anxiously, pointing at a pocket watch that hung from a chain attached to his wrist. Funny how I hadn't noticed it before...

"Yes, you're right," Lexwhiim said. "Excuse us, ladies, but we must leave. We will be late."

"Well, off you go then," I said to them.

"Farewell," Lexwhiim murmured as he, Kexisoc, and Oxieta walked away from us. Suddenly, a portal of shadows appeared in front of them. Ukyo and I looked at each other, not knowing what to think of the trio anymore. Oxieta turned around and tilted her head up and down, as if saying 'good-bye' to us. Ukyo waved at her and smiled cheerfully; I only limited myself to nodding my head.

"My, my..." Kexisoc said to the mutt as she caught up with him and Lexwhiim. "It's getting late. Late for me... late for you." And then, the portal engulfed them and they disappeared along with the shadows.

"That was freaky," I said, puffing on my pipe.

"Yeah..." Ukyo agreed. "You know, that man... It's so strange. It's like I've known him before."

"Really? Why is that?"

"I don't know... his voice," she murmured.

"Well, either way, I don't trust them," I said. "As far as I can tell, they could be one of those Heartless guys you've talked so much about."

"I don't think so," Ukyo said. "No Heartless would have a dog as adorable as Oxieta by his side. It's something that just can't happen."

"If you say so..."

"But you're right: there's something fishy with them," she said. She turned around and exclaimed: "Damn, they're starting another exercise... let's go back before Li Shang gets angry."

"Yeah, that guy is all right, but he can really be a pain when he wants to," I said, putting out my pipe and we both returned to the camp.

_(Change of scene)_

During the following days, things didn't get easier for Mulan. She tried her best, but she was always the last to arrive during our morning jogs while carrying the stones, the only one who still failed to withstand more than one blow coming from Li Shang, the only one who hadn't even fend off a single pebble during the balance exercise, and the only one who had blown up Chi Fu's tent during cannon practice. It was like she was a freaking plague. Li Shang soon got tired of her and one night, according to her, he approached her as she walked alone to her tent and, handing her horse over, told her that she didn't have what it took to remain with the Imperial Army.

Yet that very same night, desperation took a hold of Mulan and she tried one last thing in order to avoid getting kicked out of the army... It took her all night long. But the following morning, as we all came out of our tents to begin the daily march, an arrow fell at Li Shang's feet. Looking up, we all noticed that Mulan was sitting down at the top of the pole, a tired, but triumphant smile drawn upon her face, the weighs representing courage and discipline resting on her lap. Li Shang was impressed. All my companions were very happy to see her finally do something good and the rest of the soldiers cheered her victory. From that moment on, Mulan started to train with a new spirit and soon became a fierce warrior. I was amazed: it took her less than a week to even defeat Li Shan in unarmed combat. The young captain, rather than looking at her with fury after being knocked down, smiled happily and proudly.

What was more, my companions soon became friends with the soldiers who had been so harsh to us in the beginning, that is, Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po (Ling being the skinny fighter, and Chien-Po being the monster). In spite of this newly acquired sense of camaraderie between the soldiers and us, Ukyo still refused to talk to her boyfriend. It seemed to me that Jam was closely reaching her goal... and that made me even angrier against her and the stupid kid.

Nearly a week had passed since our arrival to the imperial army camp. It was now getting late. The night had fallen over the encampment and Li Shang was inside his tent discussing some important matters with Chi Fu, I take it. I was sitting near a fireplace I had just lit, smoking my pipe, and deciding whether or not I should drink the rest of my sake. I only had a few drinks left... which didn't make me very happy. But before I could make up my mind, Wilheim approached me and sat beside me without saying a word. I remained mute as well. I just kept smoking my pipe without even turning to see him. Of course, he wouldn't just come by and sit down next to me if he had nothing to say. So, as expected...

"Could I have a word with you?" he asked a little hesitantly.

"What do you want?" I replied harshly.

"I am... I am most worried about Ukyo," he said. "I have never seen her so angry. She will not speak to me... I try, but she will not let me." He paused for a moment and turned to see me. "Has she expressed any feelings to you?"

"Why should I tell you?" I asked.

"Because I am desperate," he answered. "I do not believe there is greater pain than not being loved by her. Not to have her with me is like not having the sun in my life. My heart beats only when I hear words coming from her mouth. Without her, I am hollow..."

...Okay, so I have a sensitive side. Some might say very... VERY deep inside of me. Whatever the case, Wilheim managed to get to it, and because of that, I dropped my guard and spoke with him.

"Listen, Don Juan..." I said. "I know you're about the most clueless person that's ever lived, but I figure even a fool like yourself can tell why Ukyo's angry at you."

"I have told Jam to stop harassing her," he replied. "I thought she had put a halt to that."

"Well, Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah, wise guy," I snorted. "It's not that simple, in case you haven't realized it."

"You do not have to be so sardonic..." he muttered shyly under his breath.

"You're still speaking to that bitch, aren't you?" I went on. "If you stopped doing that, I bet things would be a lot easier for you."

"I do not dislike Jam!" he retorted. Not the smartest reply... "But that does not mean I would choose her over Ukyo. In fact..." he paused, and after lowering his head, murmured: "I do not understand why she would think so."

"Well, Jam does have more sex appeal than Ukyo, so to speak," I said and waited to see what his reaction was. He shook his head and answered:

"Not to me. I may be wrong, but to me, Ukyo's beauty is unmatched. And in this ignorance, if ignorance it is, I desire to live forever."

"In that case..." I said, puffing on my pipe. Wilheim had won me again... "Tell that to her. And don't let her quiet you. You're a nice guy, Willie, too much for your own sake; you need to be firm from time to time."

"...Yes..." he sighed. "Yes, you are right."

And, speak of the Devil, just as Wilheim got up, we saw Ukyo passing by. On a side note, the poor girl still had that nasty black eye and some bruises. Luckily, they were healing up. Either way, taking a deep breath and gathering all his courage, Wilheim raced to her.

"Ukyo... I need to speak with you," he said.

"Not now," she replied dryly and kept walking. Yet the boy grabbed her arm and stopped her on her tracks.

"I will not wait," he said, firmly. "Listen to me, please."

Seeing that this time he meant business, Ukyo crossed her arms over her chest and took a deep breath.

"I'm listening," she grumbled.

"Why do you doubt my love for you?" Wilheim asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you honestly believe that Jam can take me from your side?" he went on. "Do you think so poorly of my fealty towards you? Please tell me that is not so, for I would be devastated."

"You act as if you were leaning toward her, Wilheim," Ukyo muttered.

"I cannot just stop speaking to her: she is my companion, Ukyo, as are you. But, darling... do not think that she can make me forget about my love for you. Death itself failed to do so. Darkness stood no chance in the way of our love. Do not dare to think that a woman alone can even come close. Especially since there is no being on any world that is more beautiful than you; especially since only Angels can hope to match your splendor. Please, understand that I will not give you up for her... And get it into your head. Do not doubt my love: when that happens, you make me so very low. Have I not given you enough proof that I would do anything just to see a smile upon your lovely lips?"

Ukyo looked away and let out a faint sigh. The anger in her eyes vanished as she spoke again.

"Yeah," she said.

"Then love like you used to and stop doubting. Doubt the whim of the worlds, the twinkle of the stars, the talk of the wind if you wish. But do not doubt the loyalty of my heart." I've really got to admit it: Wilheim knows how to be poetic even when scolding his beloved, because that was really what he was doing... on one side. That had also been a very pretty apology.

Defeated by the boy's words, Ukyo smiled faintly. Looking at Wilheim, she toyed with a strand of his hair, which was blocking his eyes and swayed on her hips.

"I'm sorry," she said in a low, sweet voice.

"I am sorry too," he answered, smiling as well. He gently grabbed her by her arms and leaned forward to kiss her. Ukyo hastily stopped him by putting her hand on his mouth and pushing him back.

"No, no: the soldiers!" she whispered.

"Let them think whatever," Wilheim murmured back. "I could care less."

"We're going undercover here! Hold on..." she whispered and, grabbing him by his shirt, lead him behind a tree, where no one could see.

"Well, I guess I must be good at this counseling shit," I murmured to myself as I heard them kiss passionately and smiled. I never knew I could actually enjoy something like this. In the past, I would've most likely told them to take a hike. But somehow, they sort of gave me a warm feeling.

Moments later, they came out of their hiding spot and sat beside me, craving to hold each other's hands, but restraining themselves from doing so. They had big, dumb smiles plastered on their faces.

"I take it all is well," I said.

"Yeah..." the both answered. "Thank you, Baiken," Wilheim added.

"No problem," I replied.

Before any of us could say another word, Mulan walked past us. We noticed she was holding a basket and a towel...

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Ukyo asked.

"I'm going to—oh!" she exclaimed, seeing them together. "Is everything all right already?"

"Yeah, thanks for asking," the girl replied, giving Wilheim a quick kiss on the cheek when no one but us were watching, to which he blushed and chuckled.

"Oh, that's great!" Mulan giggled.

"Mulan, girl, you can't be serious about this!" said Mushu in a low voice. It was not until then that we saw he was catching up to Mulan. "You're going to get caught!"

"What is he talking about?" I asked.

"I'm going to take a bath," Mulan answered. "Just because we're amongst men doesn't mean we have to smell like them... no offense, Wilheim."

"None taken, I suppose," the boy said, with a chuckle.

"Well, see you later," she added and headed to a lake which was near the camp.

"Mulan! No! Get back here!" Mushu practically sobbed, running behind the girl and trying to hold her by her clothes.

There was silence for a few minutes between us and then, as if Ukyo and I had read each other's minds, we got up from our seats.

"...Are you thinking what I believe you are thinking?" asked Wilheim, with the same worried expression Mushu had on his face.

"Come on, honey, it's not like everyone's out to take a bath at this hour," Ukyo replied with a smile.

"Don't worry about us," I added. "And if someone catches us, we'll just kill him."

"What??" Wilheim muttered, jumping up on his feet.

"She's just kidding, baby," Ukyo cleared as she and I caught up with Mulan. After a few moments, she burst out in laugher and I smiled, shaking my head.


	5. Chapter 4: A Lair of Darkness Reformed

Hey, guys.

Well, I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter. Once again, this one's dedicated to my friend Adrián Araya, whose birthday was today. Happy birthday, bro!

See you all later :)

_Chapter __Four: A Lair of Darkness Reformed_

_Narrator: Siegfried_

"Well, it seems that I did pick an interesting book after all, Sora, despite the other two..." I muttered, turning to him. But good old Sora was in a deep sleep, lying back on the couch, the book Yen Sid had given him opened and laying on his chest. I smiled, shook my head and kept on reading. The poor guy was having a lot of trouble understanding the book. Not because he was stupid... but because, the way I saw it, he was so excited about the thought of meeting old friends that he could hardly pay attention to the stuff in the book.

Aside from all of that, we had all been pretty tired of late. Funny thing, right? After being submerged in a sleep that only God knew how much had lasted, all we had been able to do during that last week was to sleep and read. We hadn't found any world to land in yet, so we took this opportunity to regain as much energies as we possibly could. Although I don't know how much time we were supposed to actually need... Why was this happening to us? I really didn't have an idea. All I could guess was that the idiot who had put us inside those capsules was responsible for our tiredness.

For my part, I had managed to read a couple of books during our travel. They had been awful. Bad stories poorly told with no twists and an awful plot. I had finished reading them only because, whenever I open up a book and read the first pages, I don't put it away until I've finished it. I've read many great stories that have a slow start that way (and many others that seem promising and end up being pretty boring). But this new book I had found was most entertaining. It was the story of a knight who traveled through distant lands and achieved several different feats. Sort of reminded me of "Amadis of Gaul" a bit... and of course, it reminded me of the adventures we'd had in the past.

More than anything, though, I was struggling not to fall asleep. Seeing Sora taking such a peaceful nap really tempted me. In the end, however, Donald and Goofy entered the room. I greeted them with a long yawn.

"Hey, guys," I said. "Tired of flying the Gummi ship?"

"Yeah; I'd feel as if I need a bit of more sleep," Donald answered. Then, he looked at Sora and let out a low chuckle. "Talk about lazy."

"Well, we're all very tired, Donald," Goofy muttered, sitting next to me. "Although I'm not really sure why that is. We've been sleeping pretty much this last days. I do hope that this will change the second we get to a new world. We're going to need all our strength to take on the Heartless again."

"You got that right," I said. "But not to worry; we'll surely meet our friends sooner or later, don't you think?"

"Yeah... who knows? We could even meet some of them in the next world we land." Donald quacked cheerfully.

"There are still a lot of places to go to, I should think," I muttered. "Even so, I'm not that worried about the Heartless anymore. We defeated them once: but those Nobodies are completely new to us. And if there's something that scares me is an enemy who can fight smartly and who can think ahead. Like Yen Sid said, they Heartless were all about wild instinct..."

"Ah, don't worry about it, Siegfried," Donald said confidently. "We did fight against very smart Heartless in the past. I don't think you were around at that moment, though."

"Oh, right!" I exclaimed, snapping my fingers. "You speak about Digaia, don't you?"

"Yep," Goofy chuckled. "He was one of the strongest Heartless we faced. In fact, I don't think we had a more difficult battle..." then, after pausing for a moment, his smile faded and he added: "That's where we lost Ukyo. We went to Hollow Bastion to get her... but Wilheim didn't make it."

"Yeah..." I sighed. "Hey, but don't worry! Gabrielle told us he was alive and well. So we'll meet him again soon enough." Saying these words, I thought about a reencounter with my older brother and smiled happily. "I hope that he'll be in the next world we land on."

"Well, we can only hope," Donald said.

At that moment, Sora let out a long yawn and stretched his arms and legs.

"Hey there, Sora... Good mornin'!" greeted Goofy cheerfully.

Sora rubbed his eyes and sat down. He remained idle for a few moments before he yawned again and turned to face us with a smile.

"Hey, guys," he said. "How're you doing?"

"A bit tired, too, but that's no excuse for us to evade our chores" Donald chuckled.

"Cut me a break," he answered, getting up from the sofa in order to stretch himself a bit more. "I need a bit more activity to keep myself occupied. If I'm bored, I get tired."

"Excuses, excuses..." I laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Sora chuckled. "Anyway, how much time before we get to another world? Has there been anything on the radar, or something?"

"Not yet," Goofy sighed. "Maybe we should check the log and see if there's one of them worlds near..."

"Yeah, but we've been through this already," Sora muttered, sitting down and rubbing his eyes once more. "It doesn't make any difference if the world is old or new. We have to get rid of the Heartless, so it's the same deal. Of course, if we could actually know where those guys from Organization XIII dwell in that'd be sweet. But... well, we don't. Besides, it's not like we can get to them so easily. Remember what Yen Sid said? We've got to open new paths. Otherwise, we'll just lose time."

"All right then," Goofy answered and sighed yet again. I could see that he was anxious to get to a known world and to see some of our friends. But those worlds were the ones that needed our help the least, I figured. Our buddies could take care of themselves and of those around them. We needed to find out where the weak lived so that we could protect them.

Okay, so that sounded a bit like Superman. Believe me: I'm not like that most of the times. But people did need us...

_(Change of scene)_

After two more days of traveling, Goofy finally exclaimed excitedly:

"World ahoy!!"

This, amazingly, was all it took to get us off our lazy butts. Our tiredness left us just like that. We went over to Goofy's side and peered at the world we were about to enter.

"This place looks a bit familiar..." Donald murmured.

"Yeah, I think we've been here before," Sora agreed. And after a few seconds of remaining silent, he exclaimed: "What do you know? That's Hollow Bastion!"

"Hollow Bastion?? Are you sure?" asked Donald and Goofy.

"Just look at it!" Sora answered. "I can see the strange waters from here... Although it looks to me that they're frozen..."

"Yes and the castle isn't the same we entered last time," I mumbled, sitting down on a chair. "It looks pretty much abandoned... I don't know if that's good or bad, though."

"Well, whatever the case, we have to check it out and get rid of the Heartless," Donald quacked. "Let's go, Goofy! Land this thing there."

"Aye aye, captain!" chuckled Goofy and headed the ship towards Hollow Bastion...

Grabbing our weapons (and a few snacks and bottles of water), we readied ourselves for battle. I could see in our faces that we were all excited to be doing this. Though it was unlikely that we would meet any friend of ours at that God forsaken place, we would sure have a lot of fun battling against the Heartless... Hopefully, it would be fun and we would not have to face a tragedy of the sort they had done when they lost Sora and Wilheim...

Goofy landed the ship in the outskirts of Hollow Bastion: a place we had never visited before. As we got out of the vessel and looked at the castle, we realized at once that it was all but deserted. Besides, it was very far away from us. Somehow, we didn't think that there would be any Heartless around that dreadful place. Yet the entire worlds still hadn't ridden itself from their entire presence. Looking up at what seemed to be the roof of a nearby house, we spotted a pair of soldier Heartless that, upon seeing us, vanished into the night. Sora smiled and, putting himself on guard, beckoned us to go along with him.

We turned left on the first corner and immediately dropped our guards. We had entered a populated town... Shops, houses, a few food stands here and there... People were busy walking about, shopping, and eating. We couldn't believe this! This had been the ultimate fortress of our enemies! What the devil had happened with this place?

Whatever it had been, though, the change was excellent. We all looked at each other with bewildered expressions for a few instants before studying the town further. Most of the houses were small and made from stone, with bright colored tiles upon their roofs. In front of us, was a little plaza: many shops encircled it and a water fountain adorned it. The lights of the little town shone brightly and the people spoke loudly. It seemed to us that they were oblivious about the Heartless, as if they had never existed... Either way, we were more than happy to see this sort of activity rather than the infestation of darkness we had encountered in our last visits. Of course, we would've also liked a challenge... but some rest never harmed anyone, right?

...Please don't answer that.

Anyway, sheathing our weapons, we walked, with marveled faces, to a nearby food stand. The man in charge was just bidding a costumer farewell. He then noticed us and smiled.

"What can I get for you this evening, folks?" he asked cheerfully.

"I... what? I'm sorry," stammered Sora. "It's just that, we've been here before, and this isn't what we remembered..."

"Ah, I understand," the man answered, still smiling. "You see, our town did suffer an attack from dark creatures. But they're mostly gone now. We've rebuilt the major part of it. There are still some houses to be built by the castle... But so far, we're doing great! Well, I mean, you must be glad this is what's happening right now."

"Oh, yeah!" we all exclaimed at once. "Yeah, we're happy to see this place so changed from what we remembered it to be," I added. "Still, I don't mean to alarm you, sir, but I think that we saw a couple of dark foes about..."

"Oh, you did?" asked the man, not the least disturbed. "Well, not to worry. No doubt the guys will take care of them in no time."

"The guys?" we all muttered.

"Oh, yes," the storekeeper said. "You see, three strangers—well, actually they're four, but one of them doesn't fight against those beasts. Rather, he's been helping us rebuild the town. We owe him very much: I doubt we could've gotten as far as we have without his help. Sorry, I digress," the man muttered and cleared his throat. "Four fellows came by less than a week ago and they've been helping us get rid of those monsters. Well, like I said, three of them are."

"What are their names?" asked Donald enthusiastically.

"You know, I don't really recall..." murmured the man, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, could you tell us what they look like?" asked Goofy, as optimistic as ever.

"Sure," the man said, with a smile. "One is a huge man. He has dark skin and a fierce face. People around here say they've never seen him smile. I don't think they exaggerate: that man could scare the wits out of any devil."

"That's got to be Octavius!" Sora exclaimed with a smile. "What about the others?"

"The other one – the one who looks like he's the leader of the bunch – is a man. He's very strong and is famous around here with the ladies... Not that he's a Casanova, but they all say he's pretty good-looking. He has short, brown hair... wears a black jacket... Oh, and he has a blade that looks has a gun on the handle or something."

"Leon!" we all laughed. For my part, though, I felt a wee-bit disappointed. My brother surely wasn't one of 'the guys'. Because, if he had been with them, the man would've already described him or Ukyo. No way would be separated... I say this because, although the guy had said there were four fellows in total and he still had to describe two, neither Wilheim nor Ukyo would stay without giving any battle to the Heartless and just chill in town.

"Yes, I believe that was his name," the man said and chuckled. "And the third of those warriors is a bearded, young man. He's armed with a scythe."

"Oh, I don't believe it!" Sora exclaimed. "Adrian's here, too!"

"Yeah, that's great!" Donald quacked. "Oh, but wait a minute... Who is the fourth guy?"

"The fourth fellow is an old chap with big, white beard," said the storekeeper. "He has a blue tunic and a big, blue, pointy hat. He's the one that's been supervising the construction and he's been helping us with planning and all those sorts of things. He's some sort of wizard. His name I remember: he's called Merlin."

"Merlin?" I blurted out. "Wow... I mean... I didn't think I'd be seeing him again."

"Well, you've been proven wrong, Siegfried," Sora said, smiling. "You remember him, don't you, guys?"

"I sure do," Goofy said.

"I wonder if he brought Archimedes with him..." muttered Donald under his breath.

"Well, it seems that you all know each other, huh?" the fellow said. "It figures... you see, those guys said that some other people might show up sooner or later. They said one of them probably would have the power to get rid of the Heartless for good. Are you the ones they were talking about?"

"Well, we hope," laughed Sora. "Anyway, thanks a lot, mister..."

"Oh, that'd be David, mate," the man answered. "Either way, I reckon you want to go and meet your friends, right? Well, if that's the case, go right down those stairs and look for their house among all the other ones down there. You can't miss it: it'll be the only one with the lights on. Everyone turns off the lights at this hour."

"That's not very smart," Donald said. "The Heartless could go inside their houses any minute."

"Oh, no," David laughed. "The guys keep them very much at bay. Besides, we've noticed that the Heartless are mostly attracted to the light."

"Okay. If you say so..."

"Okay; thanks, David," Sora said. "Come on, guys, let's look for them!"

"Oh, two more things, mates," David called as we left. "Firstly, you'll most probably run into a few of those beasts. But I suppose you can handle them... Second, you might notice some strange movement. There are luminous things that appear from the ground and emit mild explosions... They are harmless, do not worry. Those things are town defense mechanisms created by this fellow... You know... the one with the gun-blade."

"Leon," we all said, with a smile. "Thanks for the pointer, David," I added.

"Let's go!" Goofy exclaimed. And with that, we left the town's stores and headed for the houses. As David had warned us, it was pitch-black: no house had a single light on. I suppose this would all make finding the guys' place a lot easier.

Minding the storekeepers warning about the Heartless, we unsheathed our weapons and walked through the dark streets with eyes wide open. Suddenly, a light turned on. A weird sound reached our ears as a ball of light rolled near us and then burst, letting a haze of light escape it. We jumped back in alarm, but soon recalled David's words.

"The town's defense mechanisms..." I murmured and my friends nodded silently.

We kept on walking through the dark streets, looking for the house with a light on. We still had to find it. By the look of things, it appeared as if the whole town was about to be swallowed by the night. But right about then...

"Oh? OH! SORA!! SORA!! UGH, UH, AAHHH!!" cried a very familiar voice (followed by other several guttural sounds) from behind our backs.

"Whoa! Where are you??" Sora laughed as we all turned around and looked for our friend.

"Over here, dude!" cried the vampire. It was only right about then that we realized that he was on a nearby ceiling... walking upside-down! "Oh, you're all here!! Excellent!" and with that said, he leapt down and met us with a big smile. "My God, you've grown, Sora... but you're still shorter than me, kid!" he laughed.

"Yeah, it's good to see you too, Adrian," Sora mumbled, trying to look angry, but failing on the attempt.

"Wow, even your voice has changed!" the vampire exclaimed. "You sound like and old woman who's smoked all her life."

"You sure know how to cheer everyone up, don't you?" asked Sora as the rest of us laughed at Adrian's remark.

"Hey, I'm the party guy! Come on over here!" he said and hugged Sora and rubbed his head roughly. After that, he gave us all a friendly hug. "Man, I wasn't expecting you to come so soon, guys! And that goes mostly for you, Siegfried!" he added, patting me on the back. "For a moment there I thought we might never see you again. But Gabrielle proved us wrong."

"You've spoken to her?" I asked.

"I haven't. Demean and Tish did, and they spread the word. So basically, mostly everyone knows you're alive now. Octavius and Leon know, too – they're here, by the way: I told them."

"We know that, too. But, do they know about my brother as well?"

"As a matter of fact, they don't," he replied. "I didn't mention anything about meeting him. Therefore, I didn't tell them about my meetings with him and Ukyo."

"How come?" we all asked.

"Because I sooo want to see Leon cry when he sees him!" laughed the vampire. "I know there's a little teddy bear inside of him, and I want to see it! He always gives the impression of being strong and cool, but I know he has feelings (unlike Octavius). I want to see him surprised!"

"You're so cruel!" Donald chuckled. "I think we should tell him... Seriously. Besides, Octavius knows, too. He probably told him already."

"Yeah, right. You can consider yourself lucky if he even grunts at you."

"...We still ought to tell him."

"Aw, you guys are no fun," Adrian answered.

"You shouldn't be so mean," Sora said, punching him playfully on the arm.

"Hey! There's no better person than me on any of the worlds," Adrian said, smiling childishly and returning the playful blow.

"I seriously doubt that."

"So, why don't you take us to meet Octavius and Leon, Adrian?" asked Goofy. "It's getting very late, and we should get together so that we can at least decide what to do next."

"Well, yeah, I suppose that'd be the thing to do... and by the way, believe it or not, I AM nice!" Adrian exclaimed, punching Sora on the arm once more.

"Ouch! Hey, that's one you owe me!" Sora said, unable to stop smiling.

"Follow me," the vampire chuckled and we did as he told us.

"Hey, Adrian," said Donald. "How long has it been since we last saw each other?"

"Jeez... about a year, give or take," he answered.

"Whoa! A year??" we exclaimed. And then, Sora asked aloud: "How long do you suppose we slept, you guys?"

"What?? You've been sleeping all this time??" cried Adrian, stopping short.

"Well, not all this time, but—"

"Ah-tah-tah-tah-tah: don't give me that!" he interrupted. "You were SLEEPING?? How lazy can you guys get? Lazy folks never make it on the real world! Mark my words."

"Yeah, right. And what have you been doing?" asked Sora with a defiant air.

"Not much: but I sure as heck didn't spend a year just sleeping," Adrian said, smiling impishly at us. This gesture was very special and unique in him... from now on, I'll be referring to it as the 'Got-ya' smile.

"...Shut up," Sora muttered, defeated, to which Adrian burst out in laughter.

"Okay, but, how come you guys were sleeping?" asked the vampire.

"I guess we should tell you once we're with Leon and Octavius," Goofy replied. "It's sort of a long story, and we don't understand much of it, actually."

"Oh, all right." He muttered and continued walking.

"Hey, Adrian, so... you've seen my brother?" I asked, anxious to hear news about him.

"Yeah. I spend about a month with him and Ukyo, living in a place near their home." He answered.

"How is he?"

"Oh, you know, taking care of the family. After all, you have to get a good job when you're about to have twins."

"WHAT??" Sora, Goofy, Donald, and I shouted, stopping once again. "Ukyo's pregnant?!" I exclaimed.

"You fell for it!!" Adrian yelled, bursting out in laughter again.

"Dang it!!" Sora cried as he, Donald, and I hit the vampire's arm several times. He replied with laughs mixed with faked moans of pain. "I forgot what Cid said about you: you can't take anything seriously."

"Of course I can be serious! I could be a monk if I wanted to!"

"Yeah, right," I muttered, trying to smile and shaking my head. "Okay, for real now: how's he doing?"

"For real: he's doing great. He and Ukyo are very happy and they get along very well. Chances are, though, they're out there already, looking for you guys, too."

"Yeah... you might be right..."

"Ah, here we are!" Adrian exclaimed, standing before a cozy house. The door was semi-opened. A haze of flickering light came from it and the windows, accompanied by a smell of burnt firewood. I suppose they had lit up the chimney. And once we were all very quiet, I heard Leon and Octavius's voices from inside the house. "Come on, come in! 'Mi acogedora morada es vuestro afable hogar,'" he said with a Spaniard accent.

"Is that something like... 'mi casa es su casa'?" asked Sora.

"Yes, but much more refined and elegant. I made that up myself... You need to learn the language, 'shorty'," chuckled the vampire with the 'Got-ya' smirk.

"When we're done with the Heartless, I'll see to that," answered Sora. And with that said, we walked into the house.

The first thing we saw in front of us was a huge computer with many monitors. It was operated by a single keyboard. Sitting by it, was Leon, and next to him, stood Octavius. At their left was the rest of the house. A cozy fireplace, a bed and three sleeping bags, a table with a kettle and cups ready to be used, the burning fireplace... and hundreds of books all around. It was very nice... I mean, it gave quite a warm feeling, despite being a complete mess. Then again, I don't think that these guys had much time for fixing the muddle when they had to battle the Heartless during the nights. I didn't care. I was just happy to see the guys, as were my three companions. And, by they look on Leon's face as he turned to see us, I knew he was glad, too. As for Octavius... only God knew.

"I knew you'd come," Leon said with a big smile. I think I'd never seen him as happy. "Welcome, guys," he added, walking towards us and shaking our hands effusively. Sure, he wasn't as warm as Adrian, who didn't hesitate to hug us, but he wasn't as cold as Octavius, who merely nodded and let out a low grunt as a greeting.

"We had been expecting you," the were-bear dryly said.

"Really? Why is that?" asked Donald.

"With the Heartless about, it was only logical that Sora would come sooner or later," the huge man replied. "And, of course, we knew he would not show up alone."

"Well, I always have my bodyguards with me," Sora chuckled.

"So, how've you guys been? It's been a long time, according to Adrian," Goofy muttered.

"Yeah, it has... why do you say that?" Leon said. "Didn't you keep track of time?"

"Not really... we were sleeping," Donald answered.

"Ah, I see," Leon mumbled and smiled faintly, yet I could see he was holding back his laughter.

"They're hobos, I tell you!" the vampire exclaimed.

"Shut up!" Sora, Donald, and I laughed.

"Enough chatter. We have more important issues to discuss," Octavius intervened. "I must tell you that the strangest thing happened to us. We all just remembered you about a week ago."

"'Just remembered us'?" Donald, Goofy, Sora, and I stuttered in shock, to which Sora added, with a hurt voice: "You mean you forgot about us?"

"Yeah," Leon said. "But that's not all: we forgot about each other as well. I couldn't remember anyone. That is, not you guys, or Adrian, or Octavius, or Cloud, or Cid... no one." He paused for a second and, crossing his arms, he murmured, mostly to himself: "It doesn't make any sense, does it?"

"...Did you say you remembered us about a week ago?" Donald muttered.

"Yes," Octavius answered.

"That's just about when we woke up, didn't we?" the duck said, turning to us.

There was silence for a few moments. Suspicion invaded our faces as thousands of questions raced to our minds.

"Are you implying that it has something to do with it?" I asked.

"Whoa! Just a minute!" Adrian exclaimed. We noticed that he wasn't standing beside us anymore: he had moved to the ceiling and was standing upside-down again, just a few feet away from us. He looked hilarious and, strangely enough, this was one of the few times I remember seeing him so serious. "Rewind, if you please: first of all, would you mind telling us about your sleep—? What's so funny?" he muttered as Sora, Goofy, Donald, and I chuckled in a low voice. He looked really comical up there!

"What? Who said anything...?" Sora replied, holding back his laughter and turning around.

"What? What did I do?" asked Adrian, turning to Leon, who simply shook his head and said:

"Nothing, nothing..." he sighed. "Just get to the point, before I get another headache," he added and began to massage his temples.

"Yeah, you've been getting quite a lot of those lately, Leon..."

"Gee, I wonder why."

"You know, you should really go to a doctor. It could be dangerous, man! You could have a tumor and not even know about it!"

"Get on with it, bloodsucker," growled Octavius.

"Hey, easy, dude," Adrian murmured. "Get a wife... Anyway, like I was saying, perhaps you guys should tell us why you were sleeping in the first place."

"We'd be glad to tell you if we knew," I answered. "We actually can't remember anything about what happened to us during the last year! All we remember was that we started to follow Pluto, King Mickey's dog, until nightfall down a green field. Then, it's all just... blacked out."

"We woke up in a very strange mansion," Goofy continued. "We were all sleeping within some kind of pods... The place was empty, so we figured we'd get out. But we saw the Heartless and knew the worlds would probably be infested with them again. So, we took off..."

"What about the cricket?" asked the vampire. "Did you check his journal?"

"He stayed within the ship, as always, and yes, we checked his journal," Sora said. "There's just one note at the end: 'Thank Naminé'."

"Is she a friend of yours, boy?" asked the were-bear.

"I wish I knew," our friend replied. "I can't remember anyone with that name."

"Okay, let's think this through," Adrian mumbled and began to walk back and forth – his feet still on the ceiling. "You woke up a week ago in a strange place with no memory: just about the time we remembered all of you. It would be too strange if all of this were a coincidence..."

"How can that be?" Leon said, sitting down on a nearby chair. "The idea makes sense – but how could they tamper with all of our memories? Because, somehow, I'm certain that the rest of our friends forgot as well..."

"There must be some connection to this; too well hidden to be spotted just by anyone," the were-bear grumbled.

"Connection...?" I muttered to myself and like a lightning, it suddenly came to me. "That's it!" I exclaimed, snapping my fingers. "Remember what Yen Sid said, guys? The worlds are connected... Just like our hearts. That must mean that someone must've been tampering with our hearts, and therefore, with the hearts of all our friends!"

"Those dirty palookas!" Donald exclaimed angrily, hitting the palm of his hand with his fist. "No one messes with our hearts!"

"With the memories of you hearts, to be more specific," Adrian said and returned to the ground. "And, if we assume that what Siegfried said about the hearts' connections is true, then they tampered with our memories as well. But only with the ones that belong to you as well."

"What do you mean?" asked Goofy.

"I remembered fighting against the Heartless," the vampire explained. "I remembered all of it... but I didn't remember Sora. All that vanished were the memories I had when I first met you. I remembered Demean, Tish, and I recalled having heard about Wilheim: yet I didn't know who Ukyo was. You see where I'm getting at?"

"They only erased the memories about our adventures with you..." Sora muttered in shock.

"Not erase them: they merely tampered with them," Octavius said. "If they would have expunged them, you would not recall us and we would not remember you. However, I somehow believe that their ultimate purpose was to do this. Why they did not succeed? I cannot know. You are the only ones who can hope to know what is going on."

"Gwarsh, but I don't think it'll happen anytime soon," Goofy answered, scratching the back of his head. "So I guess we really were brainwashed, huh, fellas...?"

"Yeah, I guess," I grumbled. I was now really angry at our captors, whoever the hell they were and wherever the heck they stood.

"Do you know who could've done it?" asked Leon.

"No, we've been through that plenty of times, haven't we, guys?" he said, turning to us, to which we nodded silently. "We know it couldn't have been the Heartless, because we would've been killed. That's pretty much the only name we have on our suspect list... unless..." he murmured, his eyes filling with realization, and as he spoke these words, we started to feel the same way.

"Organization XIII!" we exclaimed at the same time.

"What?" Leon, Adrian, and Octavius blurted. "What are you guys talking about?" asked the first.

"It's a group of beings Yen Sid – King Mickey's master – told us about," I said. "It's sort of a long story..."

"We will discuss that later, then," Octavius said. "Ultimately, we need to know why they did it. Do you have any thoughts regarding this?"

"No," Donald, Goofy, Sora, and I replied.

"I see..."

"Okay. In the mean time, this Organization XIII is our primary suspect," Leon said. "So we've got to be on the look out for them. Do any of you at least know what they look like?"

"Yeah," we answered. "Black cloaks and hoods," I added. "We can't miss them, I suppose."

"Well, we'll be ready for them."

"Hey, but what about you, guys?" Donald asked. "How come you're here?"

"The Heartless began to attack our worlds," Leon replied. "I stole one of their ships and sailed to whatever world I could in hopes of finding you. I guess Adrian and Octavius did the same."

"Well, here we are," Sora chuckled.

"I suppose that the others must have had the same thought," Octavius said. "Most likely they are wandering through the worlds right now, searching for Sora. Yet we found you first and because of that, we need to act quickly to rid Hollow Bastion of the Heartless. Your Keyblade is the weapon we need to put an end to their infestation."

"I know... but I should tell you guys, I don't think it works that way anymore."

"What do you mean?" the were-bear asked.

"Yen Sid told us about that... Anyway, it doesn't matter right now. With any luck, we'll all understand when the moment comes."

"'We'll all understand'?" Adrian muttered, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't you read the manual on that thing? Dang, shorty! You never take precautions!"

"It was kind of confusing..." I intervened, in Sora's defense. That day, we had all just wakened up for a long sleep and we had been battling Nobodies and Heartless...

"Oh, well, if you say so," the vampire sighed.

I don't know if anyone else was about to say anything... but a sound interrupted our little meeting all of a sudden. It had been a mild explosion behind us. Turning back, we saw an old man with long, white beard and small, round glasses. He wore a blue tunic and a pointy blue hat; a little owl was perched on its tip. We quickly recognized him.

"Merlin!" we greeted happily.

"Oh, you boys are right on time!" the magician said and smiled. "I can't say the same for myself, though... I must apologize."

"Well, this is a sight I wasn't expecting to see anytime soon!" the little owl added. "Sora, Goofy, Siegfried... I'm thrilled to see you again!"

"Hey, I'm still here, Archimedes," Donald quacked, crossing his arms angrily.

"Yes, I noticed," the owl grumbled, looking away, inflating his chest.

"Now, now, Archimedes, don't be so rude," Merlin teased, poking him with his magic wand. "Well, welcome to Hollow Bastion, my boys! Do make yourselves at home. I reckon you're tired from your journey. Perhaps you should rest a bit before going out to battle the Heartless. That's why you came here, correct?"

"Yeah, that's right," Sora replied. "But, if our friends don't mind, that is, we're actually eager to take out the Heartless. We sort of slept through the whole journey..."

"You're a bunch of sleeping logs, did you know that?" the vampire exclaimed.

"We're usually not like this," I said. "It must've been because of the pods or something..."

"Excuses!" cried Adrian. So much for his seriousness, I think.

"Well, the sooner we get rid of the Heartless, the better; that's for sure," Leon said. He fetched his gun-blade and, cracking his neck and knuckles, added: "Time to get rid of some shadows."

"On our way, then," I said confidently as the rest of us readied our weapons.

"Good luck, fellows," Merlin said. "Remember that you can always come back here if things get too tight. The town's defenses will protect you from the Heartless."

"Thanks, Merlin," Goofy replied and with that said, we left him and the little owl behind, inside the safety of the cozy house.

As we went out, the weather became much colder. It was as if the Heartless knew that we were going after them already and had used their dark power to make a chilling air blow upon us. But if this would've been true, it would've proven to be a desperate measure to drive us away, for they were afraid of our might and terrified of the power of the Keyblade bearer.

We went through the streets of the town, searching every corner covered in shadows for the Heartless. We hadn't found any yet, but we could certainly feel their presence. I don't understand why yet, since we had awakened from our sleep, our senses had become sharper and we could actually feel the Heartless when they were near. Maybe we had gotten used to battling them...

"Those are some nice clothes you got, Sora," Adrian whispered suddenly as we checked another street.

"Oh, thanks," replied our friend. "According to the fairies who gave them to me, they have special powers."

"Fairies?" muttered Adrian, raising an eyebrow. I reckon he was about to make another joke, but he noticed how Octavius eyed him with a most serious look. Just for once, he decided to humor him and merely asked: "What kind of powers?"

"They said I would discover them with time," Sora answered.

"What about your weapons, lad?" murmured Octavius, looking at me. "Last time we saw you, you only carried a Saracen sword. Where did you get this new blade and shield?"

"Same place Sora got his new stuff," I responded.

"So, you two didn't get anything new?" Adrian inquired, glancing at Donald and Goofy.

"Nope. But that's all right," Goofy said. "We didn't get any because Sora and Siegfried needed them most, I guess."

"Yeah, right," the vampire chuckled. "Well, not you, Goofy... but I can hardly imagine someone that would even want to give Donald the time of the day."

"What was that??" the duck quacked.

However, Adrian's jokes were suddenly interrupted by a familiar sound: the one that the Heartless made when they rose from the shadows or appeared out of thin air. At last they had stepped forth... big mistake. Yen Sid had said that they acted on instinct. There was fear and hatred within them. That's why they hid, when fear overcame them. But now, we had stepped deep into 'their territory'. Because of that, their anger had surpassed their fright and they now were ready to attack. Nevertheless, the battle would last only a few seconds...

Donald was the first to attack. Summoning the power of thunder to his staff, he unleashed a terrible storm of lightning upon the Heartless, eliminating several of them. The enemies pounced at us, their yellow eyes glowing fiercely as they came. With a swing of his scythe, Adrian cut apart all of his attackers; Leon did the same with his gun-blade, and Octavius too destroyed a large part of the Heartless force with a swift blow from his katana. His brute force was too much for our enemies to handle. Goofy, Sora, and I rather waited for the Heartless to actually get to us before we took them down. Once they had engaged us in combat, we defeated them with much ease. Goofy banged his opponents' head with his shield and finished them by burying his weapon in their skulls when they were down; Sora quickly reduced his foes to dust with fast, powerful moves, many of them taught to him by Cloud, Link, and (as he had mentioned to me in some other occasion) Wilheim. As for me, I waited for my enemies to attack and then stabbed them hastily when they dropped their guards. I barely used my shield... the Heartless weren't too many and they were all old enemies: that is, predictable and stupid.

The battle went by pretty fast. Before we knew, we had gotten rid of all the Heartless that had been haunting the street. We let out a sigh and sheathed our weapons for the moment.

"Next!" the vampire exclaimed.

"Wow... that was easy," Sora chuckled. "I guess you guys have gotten stronger, too."

"You're not the only one that grew over these last months, Sora," Leon said with a cocky smile.

"Let us continue scavenging for more Heartless," growled the were-bear. "I wish to rid this town of these shadows tonight. My blade hungers for a taste of their darkness."

"Then let us bring swift death to them!!" exclaimed Adrian, raising a fist and with his head looking at the dark sky. Octavius turned to him with a serious expression upon his face for a few moments and then kept on walking without saying a word. "What? Now I can't talk?" the vampire asked.

"You push your luck too much, bloodsucker," the were-bear said.

"I'm not afraid of you!" Adrian laughed. "Many have tried to destroy me: none have succeeded!"

"...My head..." Leon grumbled as we caught up with Octavius, but Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I covered our mouths with our hands, keeping our laughs to ourselves.

"Well, it sure does seem that you guys did much practicing while we were away," Goofy remarked.

"You have to keep in shape, you know," Adrian replied. "Besides, I'm part of a linage that specializes on—look out!" he exclaimed, interrupting himself, as a new wave of Heartless attacked us. Many fat foes and soldiers and small shadows came at us. They met the same fate as their comrades. Scythe, swords, shields, and staff: they all had a taste of each. This time, Sora even allowed himself the luxury to use some magic spells on his foes. He was still as sharp as ever.

"These ones attacked too suddenly," Octavius said. "So far, they had always lurked within the shadows, hesitant to come out and meet us. I wonder what drove them out of their hiding place so promptly..."

"Guys! Guys!" called a feminine voice from one of the houses about us. It had been a woman who was shouting at us from the top floor of her house.

"Ma'am, you should go back inside; it's dangerous!" Leon yelled back.

"I know, I know. But I can see a lot of places from the other side of the house," the woman said. "There are a lot of those beasts heading to the Borough. And when I say a lot, I mean that!"

"Very well. Let us head to the Borough, then," Octavius snarled, taking an alleyway which led to some stairs.

"Thanks, ma'am!" Sora exclaimed. "Don't worry, everything will be fine!"

Without a moment's hesitation, we followed the were-bear up the stairs and entered into a dark tunnel. Inside, not even the starlight or the moonlight entered. This place was completely submerged in shadows...

"Are there any houses nearby?" asked Donald.

"Not at all," Leon answered.

"Good!" quacked the duck and shot a ball of fire ahead. The flames spread across the ground, lightning our path. We gasped and grabbed our weapons firmly as we noticed a horde of foes standing right by the flames. These enemies were unlike any Heartless we had seen before. And this was because they weren't Heartless at all.

"It appears that they keep evolving into new forms," Octavius murmured. "Yet, what has happened to their crest and the color of their skin? The black shadows have been replaced by an empty grey... What is the meaning of this?"

"Those aren't Heartless," Sora announced. "They're Nobodies. Let's get rid of them before they take the town!"

"Nobodies?" our three friends muttered with confused voices. Yet as Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I charged while roaring against the enemy, they decided that questions would be best saved for later and joined us in our assault.

However, before he did this, Leon hit a lever stuck to a wall, activating a mechanism which shut a gate behind us. We immediately realized that, if the Nobodies (or the Heartless, if they were around) broke through this gate, the town would be defenseless. So it was that, as we attacked these foes, we kept a close eye on the gate, hoping that no one would go near it.

But the Nobodies were much smarter than the Heartless and far much more dangerous. Besides the Dusks, the snake-like birds, and those shape-shifting Nobodies we had encountered in Twilight Town, there was also a new variety of enemy fighting us now: a strange humanoid that had a strange helmet protecting his face and wielded two swords. These guys fought very intelligently. They didn't attack right away: they were most patient and would wait for the perfect time to strike...

We slew many foes with our first charge, but many others remained. The Dusks surrounded us and attempted to overwhelm us with their quick movements and erratic behavior. While they did this, the snake-like birds – I'll call them Assassins (the name Jiminy gave them in their journal) – rushed at the gate and began to attack it. The foes armed with blades – Samurais – waited behind the Dusks and rushed at us with deadly attacks when our guards were low. Of all the enemies, these were the ones that hurt us the most. I was cut plenty of times by these enemies and had to be healed by Donald a lot. I tried to stop their initial blows with my shield, but when I did, they would fall back and await another attack. If I tried to rush through them, they would hurt me with blinding speed. I would have to modify my tactics to suit these foes.

Seeing that the gate was giving, Adrian and Octavius rushed away from the Nobodies – the vampire by turning into mist and heading toward the gate and the were-bear by using his body to push all of his opponents out of his way. Once they reached the gate, they attacked the Assassins in hopes of distracting them from knocking down the gate. The Nobodies, however, hid on the ground as they saw them coming at them. Neither Adrian's scythe nor Octavius's sword were solid enough to penetrate the concrete. Nevertheless, the were-bear did not have any intention on letting them run away just like that. With tremendous strength, he smashed the ground with his fist, leaving the Nobodies open for an attack. It was then that Adrian, standing right beside Octavius, gathered a great deal of energy and unleashed it in the form of a wall of flames which scorched most of the Assassins. Those that survived the brutal attack began to focus their attacks on our friends rather than on the door. Relieving... to an extent.

The shape-shifting Nobodies – Creepers, as Jiminy later called them – were very hard to read; especially now that they were aided by a large multitude of Dusks and some Samurais. They changed into various forms and attacked us from every side. Luckily, however, they were very vulnerable to magic spells and Donald capitalized on this. Lighting, fire, and ice – these three elements were used by the duck whenever he could cast a spell to put them to work and with that, he defeated many Creepers. For my part, I had been studying the Samurais' movements as carefully as I could. Whenever I blocked one of their blows with my shield, they would sit back and wait for me to swing my sword, like I have said before. Yet, I found out that if I waited for them to make the first move, I had had the chance of parrying their blows and counterattacking with a certain stab. By doing this I killed my first Samurai.

Sora and Leon were fighting awesomely. They each watched over each others' backs and take turns in defeating the Nobodies that attacked them from every angle. Leon would strike at an enemy in front of him and would then attack the opponents standing behind Sora while the Keyblade master did the same thing. What was more; I could see how Sora's clothes had begun to shine with a red haze...

Goofy made his way through the Nobodies and went to Adrian and Octavius's aid. He started by throwing his shield at one of the Assassins that was about to strike Octavius from behind. While the impact wasn't too powerful, it stopped the Nobody on its tracks and allowed the were-bear to take notice that there was someone behind him. In less than a second, Octavius cut the Assassin in two, making it vanish into thin air. The knight quickly picked up his shield and slammed a nearby Assassin's head into a wall with it. Meanwhile, Adrian greeted one a Nobody that was trying to sneak up on him with his 'surprise' sword. I don't know if you remember, but he had a short sword hidden up his sleeve that shot off his hand like an arrow if he wished to.

I had managed to slay other three Samurais. Seeing this, they began to keep their distance and let the Dusks and Creepers come at me. Since I wasn't as quick as them, I began to have a lot more trouble defending myself against their attacks. Donald again had to cure me several times. Every time I tried to kill one of them with a stab, they would twist their bodies in unnatural ways and would evade me with great ease. I tried to rush behind their backs and cut them like my friends did, but I simply did not have the speed necessary to do so. Unlike the time we had fought them at Twilight Town, the Nobodies were now alarmingly outnumbering us. I would have to try something new if I wanted to get out of that hairy situation...

Then it came to me: fakes. That was my best bet. I raised my sword over my head as if I were about to deliver a powerful blow on the Dusk before me. He twisted his body like they always did and got away from me. Foreseeing this, I hastily turned around and unleashed my attack on the Creeper that was hoping to ambush me. This time, he was unable to react in time and I killed him. I began to try this tactic against the rest of the Nobodies and slaughtered several of them until they got a hang of what I was doing. After a while, whenever I faked a blow, they would all retreat and counterattack at the same time.

"Damn these things," I muttered to myself. "They're a lot smarter than the Heartless..."

But right about that moment, I heard Leon shout: "Sora...? What happened to you??"

Turning about in alarm, I looked in shock how Sora's clothes had changed to a red color. It wasn't the sissy pink we had witnessed back at Yen Sid's tower: this was the color of a growing fire and we could feel it in the form of Sora's aura gaining incredible power. What was more, a second Keyblade had appeared in his left hand, its form changed because of the Keychain attached to it (according to him, Sora had conserved the one he had gotten from the battle at the Sanctuary during all this time. The second Keyblade, I was later told, possessed the Keychain he had gained as a reward for earning first place in the Coliseum games). Sora shrugged, looking at Leon with confusion, having no idea what to say. Whatever the case, he decided that it was no time to search for explanations and began to battle with all his might. Amazingly, it seemed as if he had always carried to blades, for he handled them with amazing speed and ease.

The Dusks, Samurais, and Creepers all charged at him. Leon, Donald, and I did our best to slay them while they were distracted. Yet Sora didn't seem to need much help: his power had doubled with the coming of the second Keyblade and so had his speed and agility. Each swing of one of his swords took its toll on a Nobody. He had become as quick as Felicia and as strong as Ryu or Ken. We were astonished by this sudden change. Even Goofy, Adrian, and Octavius had been caught off guard by some Nobodies due to their distraction with Sora's incredible display of might.

Thanks to this change, we managed to defeat the Nobodies. As the last of the enemies met its doom at Sora's hands, the color of his clothes became black again and the second Keyblade disappeared. Letting out a grunt, he fell to his knees, drenched in sweat and gasping for air.

"Sora!" we exclaimed and raced to his side. "Are you all right?" Goofy added.

"Yeah, I..." he answered in a weak voice, still catching his breath. "I don't know what the heck happened back there... I was just fighting and then I just... changed. I felt so strong all of a sudden... But after a few moments, I began to grow too weak. I couldn't keep fighting any longer."

"Do you suppose this was due to the power of the clothes the fairies mentioned?" asked Donald suspiciously, turning to Goofy and I.

"It must be," I said. "I've never seen Sora go through a change like that."

"Only God knows what it was," said Leon, helping our friend to his feet.

"Whatever it was, it sure helped a lot," Adrian added.

"Thankfully no more of those fiends appear behind the gate, our efforts would have been for naught," Octavius grumbled, wiping dirt off his katana with a piece of cloth.

"I don't see any more Heartless," Leon announced. We noticed that he had walked up to a portion of the Borough where there were no walls. As we caught up with him, we gawped at the scenery before us, images of the past racing to our minds. From that point, we could see the waterfalls that had once greeted us when we came to seal the final keyhole. As Sora had said to us before, they were indeed, frozen. The castle was also abandoned and seemed to be about to fall. There was darkness all over this vast land of ice, but no eerie shadows seemed to be about. It seemed as if the Heartless had suddenly fled... "What do you suppose happened to them?"

"My guess is that the Nobodies killed them," Adrian said. "But I could be wrong. You guys know more about these critters than us, it seems. Would you care to explain the situation?" he asked, looking at us.

"For starters, we don't know if they're in league with the Heartless," I replied. "Although I agree with your guess: it's likely that they're enemies, too. But we don't know what the Nobodies are after. All we know is that we merely faced pawns."

"What do you mean?" questioned the were-bear.

"There are other Nobodies that are a lot more dangerous," Donald added. "They form a group called—" but before he could finish his sentence, a chilling wind blew from the opposite side of the Borough. Feeling evil within this gale, we raced at the exit of the area, our guards raised.

"Oh, so this is the wielder of the Keyblade..." unexpectedly murmured a booming voice. Somehow, it sounded strangely familiar... "If only it were in more suitable hands..." and as it finished saying this, many other voices laughed alongside it.

We exited the Borough and raised our heads to the roof of a building in front of us. We gasped and raised our weapons as we noticed five individuals: all clad in black cloaks, their faces hidden behind a veil of shadows. They had been the ones who had spoken.

"Organization XIII!!" Goofy, Donald, Sora, and I exclaimed.

"That's them?" asked Adrian, taking a step forth. He remained still for a second and then banged his scythe against the ground. "Okay, who's first in line??" he defied.

"That's a shame," answered the man with the booming voice in the middle. "We could've been friends..." his words were followed by his companions' cackles as the all vanished in a dark haze, leaving no trail for us to follow.

"Hey, come back here, you cowards!" cried Donald and headed for some stairs on the vicinity, even though we knew it was too late. Yet, as he began to make his way down, a shadow appeared before him, making him fall on his back in surprise. The shade withdrew as a curtain and unveiled a sixth member of Organization XIII. Donald came back to our side as we faced him with determination.

"It appears they do intend to give battle after all," Octavius grumbled and aimed the tip of his katana at the fiend.

"That may be, but they're still a bunch of cowards... Leaving only one of their fellows to do the fighting," Leon said.

"Now, do you think that's polite?" asked the Nobody in a hoarse voice. "I don't think so. What's with the animosity?"

"Enjoy speaking while you have a tongue to talk with," Octavius roared. "For I will personally pull it out of your foul mouth!"

"See, that would work... if I were just any old dude," the fiend replied. "Except that I'm not... I'm with the Organization."

"Give me a break!" cried Sora. "That's some pretty tough talk for someone who stood back while the rest of his Nobody flunkeys did the fighting!"

"Oh, boy. I think you got the wrong impression."

"Tell us what we should be thinking, then," I defied. "Because, the way I see it, you're just trying to entertain us with idle chit-chat so more of those Nobody losers will get here and help your sorry butt out of this mess."

"As if!" the Nobody laughed. "I don't think I'd need any sort of help to take you guys out."

"Then stop trash-talking and start fighting!" Sora exclaimed.

"Once again, you're getting the wrong impression."

"Oh, so you want to cry?"

"As if," the enemy said. "It seems to me that I have to remind you how tough the crowd you're fighting really is, kid."

"'Remind me'?" Sora muttered, puzzled by the Nobody's words. Nevertheless, he decided to shun them and put himself on guard, anger invading his face.

"Ha!" our opponent cackled. "See? He used to give me that same exact look!"

There was silence for a few seconds. We looked at each other, unable to think of something else to say. However, Sora soon growled and then, stepping forth, shouted: "Seems to me that you think you can psych me by saying really random stuff!"

"Or is it 'random stuff'?" the enemy chuckled, lowering his voice to almost a whisper. "If I were you, I'd sleep on it and rethink things carefully."

"If you were him, you'd be someone, for starters, Nobody," I contested.

"OOOHH!!" Adrian yelled. "Ten out of ten! Pouring salt on an open wound! That has got to hurt!"

"As if," muttered the Nobody, with a weak chuckle. I think I did get to him somehow. "Be a good boy, now," he added and then vanished into thin air.

"Hey, wait a second!" Donald quacked and rushed to where he had been standing. Yet it was too late: he and the rest of the Organization XIII members had disappeared as suddenly as they had emerged from the shadows. And what was more, by the look of things, it appeared that the Heartless had gone as well.

We all remained still and quiet for a few minutes. Although the enemies had left, we nonetheless kept our guards up, for they might still attack us at any moment. After a while, though, we decided that we had won this battle and that the end of the night was drawing near. We needed to get some rest and Adrian needed to take refuge from the dreaded sun. But Sora seemed thoughtful and preoccupied by the Nobody's words.

"You don't think that there was more to it, do you?" he asked us.

"Aw, phooey!" said Donald. "He was just talking nonsense!"

"I think he was just trying to confuse you," Goofy added.

"Right," the duck affirmed. "Those Nobodies are up to no good. They can't be trusted."

"Yeah... I suppose you guys are right," Sora sighed.

"Compared to the Heartless, those Nobodies are quite skilled," Octavius said, cleaning his katana with a piece of cloth. Not that it had become too dirty, but I wasn't going to tell him anything...

"Yeah. They put up a nice fight," Leon added. "I bet we'll be seeing a lot of them... and a lot of the Heartless, for that matter."

"Well, never fear, Adrian is here," the vampire said. "And what's more, I—what the...? Sora, why is your Keyblade doing that?"

"What...? Oh!" exclaimed Sora as he suddenly realized that his weapon was twinkling in a rather strange way. I don't think that, for my part at least, I had ever seen it doing something of the sort. "...I wonder if this is what Yen Sid talked about..."

"I bet it is," Goofy said. "But what should you do now?"

"I have no idea," our friend replied, looking at the Keyblade with a confused gaze. "I don't see any keyholes or anything of the sort around..."

"Wait a minute..." I muttered, approaching Leon and pointing at one of the pockets of his jacket. "What's this?"

"Oh, that? That's... what the heck??" he blurted as he noticed the little piece of paper I had pointed to was glittering very much like the Keyblade.

"Hey, isn't that the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Member Card? And, couldn't have you picked a shorter name for it?" questioned Adrian.

"It is, but it's not supposed to be doing that," Leon answered. "And please: don't start."

"Start what?"

"...My head..."

"There's a Restoration Committee?" Donald asked. "And you guys are part of it? Why didn't you tell us before?"

"We didn't think it was vital information," the man said as he got the card out of his pocket and approached Sora. "Actually, since we thought you guys would come sooner or later, we got some cards for you: you're Honorary Members. And this specific card is Sora's."

"Really?" asked Sora, taking a hold. "Hmm... I wonder..." he mused as he raised the card above his head. He released it and, to our amazement, it began to float over his head. With a smile of understanding on his face, he hastily pointed the tip of his blade at it. Moments later, he shot a beam of light from it which, empowered by the magic that had unexpectedly sprouted from the card, reached a magical keyhole in the skies that, up to the moment, had remained invisible. It shone brightly before disappearing into the night. Sora remained quiet for a few moments and then he let out a triumphant laugh.

"That's it!" he exclaimed. "I get it now! Remember what Yen Sid said? About the worlds being connected, like our hearts? The connections that the worlds prepared for us to travel through them are links between our hearts!"

"...Okay, now you lost me," Adrian confessed, taking a seat on a wall of stone nearby. To tell the truth, I was just as baffled as he. Actually, I think we all were.

"All right..." Sora murmured, taking a deep breath, his eyes fixed on the sky; his mind, I suppose, thinking of a way to break it down to us so that we would understand what the heck he was talking about. "This membership card has some sentiment in it, I should think. A link between your hearts and ours... The Keyblade, it seems, has the power to react to these connections. It reacted to the card and unlocked the way to another world. Get it?"

"Long story short, feelings deposited within certain items are the key to unlocking new ways for us to travel," I said, finally comprehending what he meant.

"Now that's easy to follow," Adrian said. "To the point, Sora! You and your verbosity are going to drive me insane!"

"His verbosity??" Octavius shouted. "For the last time, bloodsucker, shut up! I have had it with your lunacy!"

"...But I'm such a nice guy..." the vampire said in a tiny voice, toying with his own fingers. I couldn't help but to let out a laugh which was quickly muffled by my own hands. Octavius glanced at me with anger and then walked away from us, letting his back rest on a nearby wall.

"Well, what do you suppose this means?" Goofy asked. "Do you think that we've gotten rid of the Heartless in this world for good?"

"I don't think so, Goofy," Donald said. "I mean, I know I can't feel them near, but I'm sure that they're still somewhere around here."

"I do think you're right, Donald. However..." Leon said. "I also believe that we had gotten rid of them for some time. At least that's what I hope."

"So, you're saying we should go to another world and keep looking for more Heartless?" Goofy inquired.

"Or for the Nobodies... but yeah: that would be the idea."

"Okay... but what about the town?" asked Sora. "If the Heartless return, it'll be unprotected."

"I should not think so, Sora," Octavius intervened. "If anyone gets past the Borough – be it a Heartless, a Nobody, or some other fiend – they will encounter the defense system raised by Leon and Merlin. I have seen entire platoons of Heartless fall to that merciless mechanism without having us to even raise a finger. I do believe that Hollow Bastion will be in good hands. Besides, that magician is quite powerful. If the defenses fail, the foes will still have to match his power: a most difficult task."

"Yeah, shorty, don't worry about it," Adrian added.

"All right, then," Sora said. "If that's the case, then add my vote to the count: let's look for some more Heartless. God willing, we'll learn how to get rid of them – and of the Nobodies – sooner than later. And I'm not 'shorty'!" he exclaimed, punching Adrian on his arm, gaining another of his moans mixed with laughter. "You owed me that one and you know it!"

"We'll see each other soon, kid!" the vampire defied. Once again, Leon rubbed his temples and walked away from the two with a sigh which revealed that his patience was waning. Octavius, for his part, had none left.

Meanwhile, a question had invaded my mind. Goofy and Donald noticed me thoughtful and approached.

"What's wrong, Siegfried?" Goofy asked.

"Nothing, just..." I muttered. "Did you see the way that Nobody replied when I told him that he wasn't anything?"

"Well, he had it coming," Donald replied.

"I know, but that's not what I meant. What I'm saying is that he seemed vexed in some way..."

"So?"

"So, didn't Yen Sid tell us that Nobodies didn't have any feelings?" I questioned.

"...Well, he did. But he also told us that they might appear to have feelings," Goofy answered. "Even so, that's a rose."

"'Ruse'!" Donald corrected.

"Oh, right," the knight chuckled.

"...Yeah..." I murmured, not too convinced, yet decided not to comment on the matter for the time being.

_(Change of scene)_

The decision to leave Hollow Bastion was pretty much unanimous. We informed Merlin of these matters and he responded that he already knew we were going.

"Leave everything to me," he said, calmly. "I'll take care of things during your absence. Archimedes and I will be fine by ourselves, won't we, my friend?" he added, looking at the little owl that was perched on the tip of his hat.

"As long as you don't turn me into a human, I have no complaints," replied the bird.

"Don't worry," chuckled Merlin and then turned to us again. "The town's defenses will surely rid us of all unwelcome guests. I know we did a good job, didn't we, Leon?"

"Yeah, I agree," said our friend, shaking the sorcerer's hand. "Thank you, Merlin."

"Yeah, thanks," intervened Sora. "And sorry about running off so soon..."

"Oh, nonsense! I understand why you have to do that," the wizard said. "Don't worry, Sora, my boy... now, off you go!" and with that, we bid the two farewell, promising we would return soon, and boarded our Gummi ship. Though each of them had a vessel of their own, we decided to travel together for the moment.

Of course we all wanted to go to another world. Not because we were craving to fight more Heartless and Nobodies, but because we desperately wanted to meet with our friends again. After finding Leon, Adrian, and Octavius in such a place, we were very confident that the next world would be kind to us and let us reunite with some of our other old friends. Maybe even my brother...

Either way, the way that Nobody had reacted was still bugging me. Again, the only ones that noticed this were Donald and Goofy. And so, when Leon, Adrian, Sora, and Octavius were at the cockpit, minding their own business, I sat alone in one of the couches, doing my best to read a book. Even so, the thought of that Nobody wouldn't leave me alone. It was then that my two friends entered the room and sat by my side.

"What are you doing?" asked Goofy.

"Trying to read..." I answered, even though it was a bit obvious. As far as I recall, I was still holding that book and looking at it...

"'Trying'?" Donald mumbled. "Wasn't it you the one who said that you either read or you don't: you don't try?"

"Yeah... it's just that... that Nobody..." I murmured.

"You're still thinking about that?" Goofy said. "I don't think you should worry too much about it, Siegfried. Remember, Yen Sid told us they don't have feelings."

"That's why I can't stop thinking about it," I declared. "If they truly don't have feelings, why do they act as if they had them?"

"Probably because they're just trying to fool you," Donald said.

"But why would they want to do that? I mean, the thing is, how can Yen Sid be so sure that they don't have feelings?"

"Because they don't have a heart. He said that, too," Goofy replied.

"...Okay, suppose you're right and they actually don't have feelings. Suppose they would want to make us believe that they actually have emotions. If that'd be the case, I'd understand if they would try to fake sarcasm, wicked jolliness, even anger (because that could intimidate us)... but to fake sudden depression? Why? They don't gain anything from doing that..."

They looked at each other and remained quiet and thoughtful.

"My only guess is that they're trying to blend in, so to speak," I went on. "It seems to me that Nobodies want to have feelings and that's why they fake them. But why?"

"Well, I guess we'll find that sooner or later," Goofy said. "But right now there's no use thinking about it. We can't do anything for the moment. Right now, all you've got to do is take it easy for a while. According to Leon, there's only another world appearing on the radars; but it'll take us nearly a week to get to it."

"I suppose you're right," I sighed. "No use in carrying that burden for now. But it's still interesting."

"Interesting, perhaps," Donald quacked. "Useful, no."

"Not for the moment, Donald..." Goofy said. "To understand all of this could be helpful later on."

"Yep," I added. Feeling much better, I stretched and went right back to the book, this time, being able to calmly read every single line; but not before asking: "So, where are we going now? Do you know?"

"The Coliseum," Donald said.


	6. Chapter 5: China's Sons

Hey, guys. It's been a while, huh?

Well, I suppose it's useless to tell you what happened. This semester turned out to be beyond hideous. This time, I didn't do too well on my subjects (but I passed, nonetheless). My professors weren't exactly the nicest ones this time around... But no matter. At least I'm free now :)

That said, this chapter is pretty long, so that should make up a bit for the delay.

I hope you enjoy it :) Until next time, have fun! Happy Holidays!

_Chapter Five: China's Sons_

_Narrator: Jam_

"Aahhh! Boy, that feels good!" I practically moaned as I lowered my body into the water. Not that the water was very warm, but I sure as hell needed to take a bath. All of us did.

I have to say, Mulan had really hit the spot with this idea about taking a bath. It'd been a week since I had last showered... a week! Can you imagine how much we all stunk? And worst of all was that we were always training, always battling, always striving to be the top of the class (well, me at least). If it would've been a week of just laying around in a bed of roses, it wouldn't have been as bad... Oh, and let's not forget we were always next to smelly men. I reckon none of them minded, but we were about to cry. It was worse than lying in a field of frying onions, for crying out loud.

Anyway, enough of scatology. We, the girls – and Baiken – had all decided that it was time to put an end to all that. So there we were, all by ourselves, butt-naked in a lake which wasn't too far away from the camp. We would've been just asking to get caught if it would've not been for Mushu, who had somewhat offered to stand guard. He would let us know if any men would come our way – unlikely as it could've been. Well, that was the plan, either way...

"Mark my words, you girls are going to get into a lot of trouble!" the little dragon warned for the fifth time, his back turned to us. "If anyone comes here, they're going to find out a couple of strange things..."

"We heard you already, Mushu, take it easy," Mulan said. "Besides, I don't think anyone will come."

"It's not like men are craving for a bath anyway," added Sakura.

"They should, though, because they smell," Akane giggled.

"Besides, we also need a break from our phony voices," I said. "At least I do, because I have such a sweet voice and to fake it really hurts my throat."

"Sweet like the screech of a dying cat or like the sound of fingernails scratching a chalkboard?" wild Baiken asked with a mocking smile while Kuonji held her laughs.

"No, sweet as in I actually sound like a girl," I retorted.

"Oh, I'm sure that's what they told you at whore-academy," she contested, marveled by her own wits, I should think. Oh, I had the perfect reply for that, if it wouldn't have been for Kuonji...

"Please, guys, let's not start again," she said. "I'm in a very good mood right now and I don't want it spoiled, okay?"

"Is that so?" asked Felicia while grinning, keeping the argument from continuing. I decided to let Baiken think highly of herself for the time being, with that stupid reply. I'd get her later, though... "How come?"

"Well, Wilheim and I made up," Kuonji said with a big smile. I swear, if she would've looked at me when she announced that, I would've given her another black eye... even though that statement had been dedicated to me, no doubt.

"That's great!" they all exclaimed happily. I merely rolled my eyes and faced the other way.

Okay, I know what you're thinking: "What's with Jam, anyway? What a bitch! Why was she so obsessed about stealing Wilheim from Ukyo?" And you would be right: I was being a major bitch at the moment. The thing is, I didn't like Kuonji from the start. I suppose it was because I had just lost my restaurant: I had struggled so hard to get the funds to build it and it had gone away just like that. I had sort of tried to make a compliment to Wilheim when I found out he had saved me and then Kuonji butts in, acting all territorial... That really pissed me off.

She once asked me if I was doing all of that because I hated her or because I was just a shameless slut eager to get Wilheim at all costs. Mostly it was because I couldn't stand her. Although I must say, I would've left it all at peace if I hadn't liked the guy... Sure, I would've liked to have Wilheim a few times. Mostly just to piss Kuonji off, but with an added bonus to it.

Yet that wasn't going to happen. Even though Kuonji was a stupid little girl (and a bit of a weakling, too), Wilheim was entirely devoted to her. Perhaps his chivalry and his loyalty was that which turned me on the most. But, even though he was a lost cause for me, I would still try to bother her a bit... And, finally, I admit I'm a bit too much of a proud person. I can't apologize to someone that easily, especially if I don't like them at all.

"So, what happened?" questioned Sakura. "I bet he told you something really nice, didn't he?"

"You know my Wilheim..." Kuonji mused.

"That boy surprises me a lot," Baiken added. "He's quite different from the rest of the other nimrods we have for companions. He's as clueless as a gopher above the ground, but he has his way with words."

"I would think that would have to do with his age, right?" Akane murmured.

"No, he's always been like that," Kuonji said.

"His age? I don't think he's that old," Mulan giggled. "He looks just a little bit older than Ukyo... but that's it."

Kuonji, Akane, Felicia, and Sakura looked at each other and chuckled. Weird... How old could Willie be, anyway?

"It will be difficult for you to believe this..." said Kuonji. "But, at least in terms of time, Wilheim is the oldest one of us."

"The oldest??" I exclaimed. "Nah-ah, no way. He can't be older than that relic," I added, pointing at Baiken.

"Well, if Wilheim would have the brains of a three-year-old, then he would be much more mature than you in my book, Marmalade Jam," she snarled.

"Guys..." whined Sakura, Akane, Felicia, and Kuonji.

"Okay, okay," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "But seriously, that's just a lie. He can't be the oldest. What's more: so Baiken won't get pissed off again, he can't be older than me."

"Take a shot," Kuonji defied.

"Twenty, at the most," I said.

"Way cold... He's seventy."

Upon hearing this, I, of course, burst out in laughter. Mulan herself giggled and hid her face behind a lily, while Baiken – surprisingly, because they had become such good friends – stared at Kuonji with a "don't give me that BS" look on her face. However, Kuonji and the other three remained perfectly serious.

"Kid, I know you're trying to impress us with your boyfriend and all, but that's past ridiculous," the handicap dryly said.

"I'm not joking," Kuonji calmly replied. "You can ask any of our friends and they'll tell you the same thing."

"True, true," Akane, Felicia, and Sakura pledged.

Strangely enough, I began to believe this... what had seemed to be mendacity at first suddenly became an intriguing question. This could mean trouble... The only beings I knew could live so long without physically aging were the Gears... and if Wilheim turned out to be one, then he would be in mortal danger, because Baiken hated Gears with all her heart.

I think a small parenthesis is necessary here: Gears were beings – 'bio-weapons' – created by 'magic' (not sorcery, though... it's an alternate form of energy. I won't go into details here, since I don't know much of it myself) that ran amok not too long ago. They destroyed many populations, and I have reasons to believe old Baiken's town was one of the many cities ravaged to the ground. I remember she once said to me that she would slay all gears, even if it would be the last thing she did. I have never seen so much hatred in one person. I believe she was after an unidentified Gear which I – officially – defeated (off the record: I just claimed the bounty on her head for myself... What? No one else came to pick it up. So, what the hell?). Either way, she would not speak a word about it, especially to me, seeing how much we liked each other.

"Okay, let's say I believe you for a moment," I said. "Then what is he? He can't be a human, if he's seventy years old. And if he is, I'd like to have the prescription of what he's taking," I added, amazingly making Kuonji laugh for the first time ever.

"He is a human," she explained. "But, for fifty-one years, he lived as a vampire."

"A vampire?" Baiken, Mulan, and I muttered... well, in a way, that was a relief. "Are you shitting me?" added the samurai tomboy with a skeptic look in her eyes.

"I swear I'm telling the truth," Kuonji said, with perfect seriousness, raising her right hand. "I know it's hard to believe, but trust me, he was a vampire. I met him when he was still one, and so did Akane, Felicia, and Sakura."

"Again, that's the truth," the other three assured.

"If he's really seventy, then he has a severe psychological problem," Baiken said, still unable to believe Kuonji and the others. "Because he acts like he's eighteen – maybe even younger. And the speech thing doesn't count."

"I know, and you're right about that," Kuonji said. "The thing is, he sort of forbade himself to grow up, if you take my meaning. He always hoped he would become a human again so that then he would age naturally. So far, I feel he's been true to his word. I've spent six months with him and I feel he has matured, even if a bit."

"...So, you're not lying on this. You're actually serious," Baiken said, seemingly surprised. At last she had chosen to believe this incredible story.

"A vampire... what's that?" naïvely asked Mulan. Baiken rolled her eye and looked away; the rest of us merely giggled at her innocence.

"Think of it as a sort of Chiang-shih," I said.

"Oh... Oh!" Mulan exclaimed, horror filling her face. "But those are evil spirits... They prey upon women and rape them!"

"Wilheim wasn't like that when he was a vampire," Felicia quickly intervened. "He's always been a good guy. Sometimes he gets a bit carried away by his emotions, but he's righteous and good-hearted. The vampire I knew was nothing like a Chiang-shih, or whatever you call it... he's just like you know him now. Well, he did drink blood for a living before, but he didn't kill. He drank from me a few times."

"Oh, didn't that hurt you?" asked Mulan.

Felicia unavoidably grinned and turned bright red. Akane and Sakura chuckled while Kuonji literally forced a smile upon her face and shook her head.

"No... h-he didn't hurt me," she stuttered. "He was very g-gentle..."

"Why so nervous all of a sudden, pussy?" asked Baiken, raising an eyebrow. As an answer, Felicia immediately turned to Kuonji and said:

"I'm really sorry, Ukyo... but he had to drink..."

"I know. It was either that or the most terrible pain you could imagine. Don't worry about it," she answered, shrugging her shoulders.

"No... Actually, it felt nice," the were-cat said.

"Nice like, 'it was okay' or 'I wish I could do it right now'?" I asked while grinning.

"No, don't say that...!" she shyly answered, turning even redder and sinking into the water.

"Hmm... Dang: I wish I had met Wilheim when he was a vampire."

"That doesn't matter, does it, Ukyo?" quickly said Akane before Kuonji or anyone else could reply to my comment. "I mean, you probably did it all the time. He did spend some days at your place when he was a vampire, didn't he?"

"'All the time' was only twice, Akane, now that you mention it," replied Kuonji. "We only did it once when he was staying at my place because we were still in the process of falling in love for each other. And the second time was in Atlantica."

"Yeah, we all figured you'd be doing something funny when you asked for a separate room for yourselves," giggled Sakura and the others joined her.

"I hadn't seen him in such a long time!" Kuonji said. "It was the least we could do, you know."

"A lot of things happened in Atlantica," Akane said. "That was also where Link and Aeris got together, I think."

"You know, I don't think I saw that one coming..." Kuonji muttered. "I mean, Link is always so devoted to his princess and all; always speaking about her... it was hard for me to picture him with someone else. But, then again, he's a true knight, loyal to his land. I guess that's why he loves his princess so much, but always as a warrior that serves royalty."

"Yeah, I suppose our little quest helped us strengthen some bonds," Sakura added, giggling.

And right then, before any of us could say another word, we heard the maniacal screaming of our companions from the encampment... heading in our direction.

With frozen hearts, we turned to see Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po running like mad toward us. Holding our breaths, we all sank into the water, hoping that they hadn't seen... anything that might give us away. Naturally, not one of us was at ease. Hell, even Baiken, who's been an iceberg as long as I've known her seemed quite disturbed to see those three wailing like animals. It was as if they wanted the entire camp to join us!

"Oh, shit!" muttered Baiken as Yao and Ling entered the water noisily, splashing each other as they went in deeper into the lake. For his part, Chien-Po stuck his toe into it to see how cold it was, just like a little boy. And then, just like a little boy, he jumped high into the air and came into the water with a massive splash that drove us away from them.

"That was a good one, Chien!" laughed Ling, splashing the huge guy friendly. "You should try another one!"

"Hey, wait a minute..." muttered Yao as he turned around and fixed his eyes on someone... it had been Mulan, who, despite her best efforts to hide behind a lily, had sort of screwed up. Horribly screwed up, I have to say, because the other two found out the rest of us almost instantaneously right after her. "If it isn't our good friend Ping and company!"

"Um... hey, guys," Mulan greeted, faking her voice. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing," Ling answered. "We just came in for a little swim. What about you, guys?"

"Same," gulped Kuonji.

"You know something?" Ling added, approaching Mulan and putting his arm around her body. My God, if his hand dropped a few inches he would run into a very unexpected surprise! "I think we all got up on the wrong foot. Let's start again, right guys? Nice to meet ya, Ping. I'm Ling!"

"And I'm Chien-Po," muttered the gentle giant as Mulan swam away from Ling and crashed into his stomach with her back, thankfully. But nothing had us prepared for what was about to happen next...

"And I am Yao!" cried the third man as he stood up straight on a tiny rock which was in the middle of the lake... butt-naked. Mulan was the first to look away and then we all, as discretely as we could, did as she. Dang... I suppose the water must've been really cold or something... "And I'm King of the rock!"

"You're lucky if you can even call yourself 'Count'," whispered Baiken. I don't think Yao and the others heard her, but the rest of us sure did. Although I don't quite like Baiken's sense of humor, that was the best joke I'd heard in a long time and really had to struggle to keep myself from bursting out in laughter.

Encouraged by his friends' cheers, Yao leapt into the water, splashing us even more. The three then became locked up in a wrestling contest or something. Taking advantage of their own distraction, we discretely swam away from them. Yet if things were only so easy...

"Hey, where do you think you're going, guys?" asked Ling, glaring devilishly at us.

"Um... to the other side," grunted Felicia.

"No, you don't," muttered Yao. "Come on, Reinhart: I thought you were the captain's favorite! Time to defend your title!"

"Maybe some other time," I answered in a hoarse whisper.

"What are you, chickens or something?" Ling mocked and began to caw like mad.

"No, no, it's just... it's a bit late..." muttered Mulan.

"Late??" laughed the three soldiers. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know that the kids were supposed to be at bed at this hour!" said Yao. "Now, are we going to get to fighting already or not??"

"Just a second guys!" exclaimed a fourth man as he and his two friends swam near us. The moonlight fell on them and we let out a low, relieved sigh as we noticed that they were none other but Ryu, Ken, and hot-hottie Wilheim himself. "If you want to battle the real stuff, you should try getting over us, first!" said Ken. "Come on, who's first in line?"

"I'll get you, pretty boy!" exclaimed Yao with a mad smile, cracking his knuckles.

"Sweet... but before getting to the semi-finals, you have to beat all the other contestants, you know," Ken murmured.

"What was that?" cried Yao. But before he could throw himself against Ken, the yells of a really big bunch of men reached our ears. Turning back in alarm, we saw how the rest of the guys from the encampment dived into the water and rushed at Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po, practically dragging the first two away from us, while the gentle giant remained stationary, gazing at his frenzied companions with amusement.

We stood still and quiet, our heads half-way submerged in the water, panicked by the sight of those guys. Yet right then, our friends walked near us and began to drag us away from the crowd as silently as they could.

"That was a close shave..." Ken whispered.

"You should try to be more careful!" said Wilheim, actually trying to sound mad... "Your little escapades have endangered us all! If it would not have been for Mushu's timely warning, you could have been uncovered! How could you be so careless?" The words seem harsh, no doubt... but if you would've been there, you would've also found out that he was in fact very, very nervous. In fact, I think we all noticed that and didn't take him the least seriously.

"Wilheim-honey, you're overreacting," Kuonji giggled. "It's not like we're completely helpless. I mean, come on! You're talking to the army's bully!"

"I am not joking, Ukyo!" Wilheim insisted. "You are not supposed to—Oh, Lord, please don't do that!" he exclaimed, turning bright red as Kuonji hugged him from behind. Smart move, I have to admit.

"Every man has a weak point, Wilheim," laughed Ryu. "I suppose it's more than evident which one's yours."

"Do not encourage her..." he muttered, gulping, as Kuonji giggled even more, pressing her body against his.

"So I guess Mushu was a bit right, after all," Mulan said. "I guess we owe him one."

"That lizard should've warned us himself, instead of sending all of you," Baiken grumbled.

"Hey, come on... I mean, aren't you glad we got here?" Ken asked.

"No, because now we're in a very serious predicament," she went on. "Because I'm not going to step out of the water and let you guys see me naked."

"Same here!" we all exclaimed at the same time.

"But we don't have to do that. We can simply turn around," Ryu said, calmly.

"I'd rather be sure," I said. "I have an idea. You guys go first and then, when you've gone far away, we'll dry off."

"That's a good idea, except for the fact that we'll be exposing ourselves, then!" Ken answered.

"Better you than us," Baiken replied.

"Yeah," the rest of us girls agreed. And, seeing how nervous poor Wilheim was, the evil impulses in me pushed me to tease him a bit... if Kuonji got mad, that would be her problem. "Besides, we just experienced a terrible spectacle... Feasting our eyes on you guys would be a nice change of scenery, especially you, handsome." Upon hearing this, Wilheim submerged until the water almost reached his nose. His eyes shone with a bit of fright and he turned as red as a tasty apple. I found that adorable and chuckled as he eyed me with a pleading glance. Of course, the same could not be said about Kuonji, who gritted her teeth silently, yet didn't even turn to face me.

"But we came to get you out of trouble," Ken complained.

"We're the women here!" Felicia said. "Be a gentleman and step out."

"I'm not leaving this lake until you swear you will look away!" Wilheim cried, looking at me. His shyness was adorable!

"I was just kidding!" I chuckled. "Jeez, no one around here knows how to take a joke. See, I'm not looking," I added, turning my back around. "Come on, get out already. I'm beginning to get cold."

"Hurry up, guys," Sakura said and the rest of the girls turned around as well.

The guys chose not to say another word and exited the lake as quickly as possible. I could hear them splashing about as they hurried to the shore and frantically searched for towels and their clothes. I didn't even need to look at them to tell how nervous they were. Again, the impish little Jam in me convinced me to pull another prank on the guys...

"HUBBA-HUBBA!!" I cried loudly. "Now that's a lovely sight!!"

"JAM!!" they all cried, their voices almost turning as high-pitched as mine.

"I'm just messing with you!" I exclaimed while laughing long and loud.

"That was not the least funny!" Wilheim scolded, yet once more, his voice quailed as he spoke.

"Better start dressing up, boys, because I'm sick of being here in the cold water," Baiken declared.

"Just give us a bit of time...!" Ryu said.

"Na-ah. You have thirty seconds. After that, I'm going to turn around, so you better not be there. And I'm not joking."

"Hey, if she looks, I'll look," I giggled.

"But...!" Wilheim began, yet Baiken was seemingly sick of being so cold. I suppose we all shared the same feeling.

"ONE!" she cried. "Two, three, four...!"

The guys muttered something which I didn't quite make out and began to make a lot of noise as they hurried behind the trees and dried their bodies as quickly as possible. I chuckled as I imagined them tripping over their feet, as nervous as they were. And I wasn't the only one: Felicia was also giggling like mad, and so were Sakura, Akane, and even Kuonji. Baiken was the only one that still kept counting, letting the men know we were serious about getting out of there.

"Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty—!"

"WAIT!!" the tree men wailed.

"Like hell we'll wait! Twenty-nine, THIRTY!" and, as promised, we all turned around. Man, I don't think I'll ever forget the scene... just as we glanced to the place where the guys were, we saw Wilheim's half-naked body fall right behind a row of bushes. He had already put on some trousers, so it wasn't as fun... Anyway, the reason he had flown off like that was because Ken had kicked him from behind a three which was too thin to hide both of their bodies. Ryu had practically climbed up another neighboring tree and all we could see from him were his legs. Well, I must say that our three companions had really nice bodies...

You can obviously imagine the reaction this caused upon us. Every one of us – including iceberg-girl Baiken – began to laugh their heads off. To see Wilheim fly off like that had been priceless. Moments later, though, they all got every single piece of their uniforms on and stepped out of their hiding places.

"You guys are so funny!" laughed Mushu as he stepped out from the shadows, laughing as well. "It's been a while since I had seen such a fine show!"

"Shut up!" Ken cried. "That wasn't the least freaking funny. You think you can just come up here and mock—Ouch!" he whined as Wilheim punched his arm.

"I appreciated that much, Ken: thanks to you I gave quite the pitiful spectacle," the kid grumbled.

"No, you didn't! I enjoyed that flash!" I teased. Ryu and Ken began to laugh at this and Wilheim turned even redder. This time, though, I don't know if he was just being bashful or if he had really become mad.

"Come on, baby, don't worry. There's nothing that you should be ashamed of, honey!" Kuonji said. Again, roaring laughter. Everyone but Wilheim was practically out of air from so much laughter.

"Excuse me: I do not wish to be your buffoon this evening," he grumbled and stormed away. Oops... I think he was genuinely angry right then. But after what had just happened, none of us could take him seriously.

"Baby, don't be like that!" Kuonji said. "It's not like there's anything there I've never seen before!"

"Ukyo!" giggled Akane, gently slapping her shoulder. "That's so very mean of you!"

"Well, that's the truth... Oh, nothing that you should care listening about, though. Anyway – Ryu, Ken: scram. We're coming out. And be warned, Ken: I'm going to punch you when I'm all dried up."

"Why??" exclaimed the man.

"Because, although we had a lot of fun, that was a very cheap move. You deserve a good punch."

"The girl's right, you know," Mushu said.

"Who asked you?" Ken muttered. He then let out a sigh and turned to Ryu. "Come on, man. Let's give the ladies some room."

"Yeah," he nodded and then they both began to leave. "You're coming with us too, Mushu."

"Hey, I'm a gentleman: there's no need for those sorts of instructions," said the dragon with a deep voice and went after them.

"Well, girls, let's get out of here," Felicia said once we were sure they were far away enough. "I broke the kitty-rule by taking a bath and now I'm just as cold as any of you."

_(Change of scene)_

Felicia, Akane, Sakura, Baiken, and Kuonji went straight to their tents as soon as they had put their clothes back on. Ranma and Ryoga, it seemed, hadn't come because they had fallen fast as sleep as soon as the training had been over. At least that's what Akane and Sakura told us. Ryu and Ken stayed up a bit more and welcomed us back as we returned to the encampment. Wilheim, it seemed, had gotten angry for real and had gone to his tent. Kuonji didn't seem the least worried about this.

"He acts tough, but I always know how to make him happy again," she giggled.

As for the rest of the soldiers, it seemed most of them had already returned to their tents. The same could not be said about Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po: word had it that they had seen a snake (my guess was that they had seen a little red lizard – excuse me: dragon) and had stayed on top of the very rock Yao had stood butt-naked.

Mulan and I decided to take a walk through the camp before going to bed. I was still very cold and I needed to move a bit. I guess Mulan felt the same.

We talked for a long time. She spoke to me about her family and how much she missed them. She especially talked a lot about her dad. I could see that she loved him very much and that she only wished to make him proud.

"I utterly fail as a woman, I suppose," she said. "I try to learn the traditions of my family, but I always put my family in shame. It's so frustrating. At least it seems that I can somehow make it as a soldier. But I still won't honor my family. If I get caught, I'll get killed: and if I make it alive, father will be ashamed of me for getting into this charade..."

"Actually, I bet your father would be rather happy to see you back home safe and sound," I replied. "You think that your father expects too much of you, Mulan. Perhaps he's mad at you... but that'll be only because you placed yourself in danger, not because you dishonored him. Mark my words."

"Well... I hope you're right," she sighed. Then, turning to me, she muttered. "Jam... Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"I've been talking to you a lot and, well, you're a very nice person... So, why are you so mean to Ukyo? Was it something she did to you?" Somehow, I wasn't surprised at all to hear that question.

"It's not that she did something to me per se... I don't like her at all," I answered.

"But why? I mean, I think she's a very nice person..."

"That may be, but the possessiveness he has over Wilheim just sickens me. When we first met, I just tried to make a compliment and then she goes berserk. That really pissed me off."

"So... you're telling me you're after Wilheim just to get her angry?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's half the fun," I responded. "I do like Wilheim, to be quite honest. Back there, I really did want to watch," I added, with a giggle. "But he would've gotten mad. Anyway, he does seem to be very in love with Kuonji. I'm thinking about quitting on him, but just because he's a real gentleman and a clumsy cutesy. Yet that doesn't change the fact that I can't stand Kuonji."

"Maybe you just need to get to know each other a little better," she suggested.

"Maybe..." I muttered.

Mulan didn't have a chance to press on the matter, because just as we passed by Li Shang's tent, we heard a heated argument between the aforementioned captain and that horrible, horrible man, Chi Fu. Mulan and I froze and listened carefully to their words...

"They're all worthless, I tell you!" exclaimed Chi Fu. "You've got yourself a nice army of savages who can't even take a walk without tripping on a pebble!" it was obvious that he was speaking about us, but I just couldn't believe him. I mean, he had seen me fighting... Okay, that was too conceited, even for me. He had seen ALL OF US in action. There: I fixed it.

"With all due respect, sir, that's not true," Li Shang replied. "I do believe we have some of the finest warriors in the world serving in the army. Have you forgotten about those fellows with the unusual names? You know... Reinhart and Wilheim? Even Ping has shown a remarkable improvement. And let's not forget Ryu, Baiken, Ukyo—"

"How many men do you have under your command, captain?" Chi Fu interrupted harshly.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Think about this: the platoon you have trained consists of a dozen of decent soldiers and nearly a hundred savages whose only purpose in battle would be to serve as cannon fodder!"

"That's not true!" exclaimed Li Shang. He sounded quite exasperated at the horrible man's stubbornness. Hell, if I would've been him, I would've already punched his lights out.

"You will do best to remember your place, _captain_," Chi Fu snarled. "And that is still too much of a position for you. You know you wouldn't have made it on your own. If it wouldn't have been for your father, you would be among the ranks of those brutes."

Right about that moment, I managed to discern their figures as they cast their shadows on the tent. I could see that Li Shang had chosen not to say another word and was having a real hard time in remaining quiet. He stared firmly at Chi Fu for a few moments before he stepped out of the tent with rage in his eyes. Nonetheless, after a few steps, he let out a defeated sigh and walked right beside us.

"Hey..." Mulan said, trying to act all manly, again. "Hey, how's this: we hold him and you beat him up?" I really wished she would stop doing that...

Li Shang turned away, even more pissed by that stupid remark. However, Mulan quickly fixed her mistake by taking a step forth and saying in a gentle (but still manly) voice: "Hey, for what it's worth, I think you're a really good captain."

"I second that," I grunted.

Li Shang stopped for a moment, turned to us with a much calmer expression on his face and then left us without saying a word. Mulan sighed and shook her head.

"I feel that I've disappointed him..." she mumbled.

"Didn't you hear what he said? He's happy with your progress. We've done fine. It's not our fault that that repugnant man doesn't like the way things work around here."

"...Do you suppose there's anything we can do?" she asked.

"Yeah, stay out of Li Shang's way," I suggested. "I'm positive that, all he wants at the moment is to be left alone. If we go try to talk to him or something, he'll shut us up with an overwhelming answer: it's none of our goddamn business."

"What do you mean? We're part of the army..."

"But we're not the ones ordering it around. That's why it's best we stay out of it."

"I guess you're right..."

Yet, right about as we settled this point, Chi Fu ran past us at full speed. Looking at him, I noticed he held a letter on his hand and had a worried expression drawn upon his face. Mulan and I glanced at each other and, without saying any words, followed the man in silence, curiosity overtaking reason. Something told me that, all of a sudden, he didn't think we were such a band of losers anymore...

"Li Shang! Li Shang!" he called out as he caught up with our commanding officer. "Something's come up..."

Mulan and I hid behind some nearby bushed and tried to listen to their conversation. Unfortunately, they were kind of far, so we were unable to hear what they were saying. Whatever it was, Chi Fu seemed really concerned and Li Shang appeared surprised.

Of course, it wasn't like Mulan and I wouldn't find about the news Chi Fu had received. But we got the information from the most unexpected being... or maybe it was the most expected.

"See? It's all working out like I planned. Isn't it just beautiful?"

Turning to the voice that had said these words, we found Mushu standing beside us, smiling devilishly and rubbing his hands with satisfaction.

"Mushu... what did you just do?" asked Mulan, looking at him suspiciously.

"What do you think? You, my girl, have got to prove yourself! God only knows when you'll be required in the field of battle. But you will be summoned eventually! I'm just speeding up the process."

"Speeding up the process? What in the world are you talking about?"

"Oh, here they come!" he suddenly muttered and climbed Mulan's body, hiding beneath her armor. "You'll thank me later!"

Confused as we were by the lizard's (excuse me... dragon) words, we could only stand as puzzled as we were, waiting for Li Shang who walked at us at a very fast pace.

"We leave early tomorrow. Go get some sleep," he said firmly.

"What happened, captain?" I murmured, before he could leave.

"We've just received a message from my fa—from the general," he hastily corrected. "We're needed in the front. Best get ready. We've got a long journey ahead of us and we must travel quickly." He began to move away from us and just briefly turned around to say: "It's time to show China how much you care for her."

Well, there was our answer. Yet it had come so abruptly that we remained still and quiet for a few moments as we allowed our brain to process the facts. Finally, Mulan reached into her armor and pulled out Mushu. She stared at him with a serious expression, her eyes demanding an intelligent answer.

"So, are you going to say 'thank you' yet?" the dragon chuckled. Oh, brother...

"Yes, 'thank you' for not telling us what the hell is going on!" she scolded. "Now, if you please would be so kind..."

"Come on, it's very obvious!" he exclaimed. "I simply left a note for that dude in the blue dress, saying that the army was needed on the field of battle. It took me a while to write it, but it ended up very nicely."

"...Oh, Lord," I sighed, turning away, not knowing what else to say.

"Mushu, are you out of your mind?" Mulan snapped. "Don't you think that, when we get there, they'll figure out that your note was a prank?"

Mushu opened his mouth, ready to reply something, but no sound came from him. He remained silent for a few moments and then he smiled innocently and let out a nervous giggle.

"See, I knew I had left out an important detail."

"Mushu!" Mulan whined, covering her face with her hands.

"Well, I guess there's no use griping about it now," I sighed. "I suppose the best thing we can do right now is to get a good hours worth of sleep. We've got a long walk ahead of us tomorrow, thanks to wonder lizard here..."

"A dragon! For the last time, I'm a dragon!" Mushu grumbled.

"Shucks," Mulan muttered. "I didn't think we'd be facing our enemies so soon. I need some more training... I don't know if I'll fare well."

"You're good to go, Mulan. Besides, you've got us to watch your back. Don't worry, you'll be fine," I assured.

"Yeah, you've got your own personal bodyguard-platoon looking out for you, girl," Mushu said. "Do you think I'd be stupid enough to put you in any sort of danger?"

"You know, sometimes I wonder..." she mumbled.

_(Change of scene)_

As he had promised, Li Shang roused us pretty early the following morning. The sun hadn't even come out yet. But most of the soldiers didn't seem to care about it. The way I saw it, they were very excited about marching into battle, although I doubt any of them had participated in any real war. Well, it's not like I'm the great veteran or anything, but I've been in tons of big fights. It can be fun, given: yet when things get too out of hand, it's your life that's at stake. Then, it stops being a game...

I wasn't very worried, though. As long as those freaking robots wouldn't show up, I supposed things would be simple enough. If the guys had managed to defeat the Heartless in the past, then it would surely be simple for me. I mean, I practically destroyed Kuonji, and she was supposed to be a bane for those things.

On a little side note, I have to admit that, up until that point, I hadn't seen her fighting her best with her weapon. It was not until later, when I witnessed her in action, that I realized what a deadly foe I had faced, should she had been carrying her giant spatula (or even worse, Wilheim's sword). We'll get to that later, however...

The guys didn't seem too concerned, either. I suppose their past clashes had given them much confidence in the field of battle. Because of that, they chatted about unimportant stuff as we made our way through the mountains. They talked about their past confrontations and about their other friends. I felt a little left out of the conversation and I bet that Mulan and wild Baiken felt the same, although I doubt that the latter cared at all. Oh, and let's not forget that cute Wilheim was still "mad" at us, so he just walked ahead of the group in silence. He was obviously the target of many of my companions' jokes. Luckily he didn't hear them.

But after a while, the conversation about him took a different turn.

"He's not even turning, is he?" Akane giggled, as Ken finished telling another joke about Wilheim.

"Nah. It seems that he loves to play the victim," the man chuckled.

"Poor Wilheim... you guys should stop teasing him so much," Mulan murmured. Well, she was right... Even Felicia, who, at first glance, is incapable of even hurting a fly was tearing him apart. Hell, even Kuonji was having quite some good laughs.

"But it's so much fun!" the aforementioned kitty said. "It's like, he wants to get angry, but fails at it big time. That's so funny!"

"Besides, like I said, I know how to make it all better," Kuonji added. "He's just making a fuss, that's all."

"Well, after all, you're the one who's... closest friends with him, Ukyo," Sakura giggled.

"It sucks to be him," Baiken intervened. "That boy needs to learn how to get mad. Otherwise, no one will ever take him seriously. Shit, no one does."

"Oh, no, no: he's just on a tantrum right now," Kuonji quickly clarified. "It's not like he can't get mad for real. It's simply not happening right now."

"Either way, it's not like he's that terrible when he's angry," Ranma said.

"You're the one to talk," Ryoga grumbled, turning to him. "I've been around him longer than you have, Ranma. You're not the one he nearly tried to choke back at Gaia, so don't say that crap."

"What?" I blurted out. As left out of the conversation as I might've felt, I just had to dig in further into that subject... "What do you mean 'choke'?"

"No, it's just..." Ken quickly said. He let out a sigh as he reorganized his ideas and then spoke again. "When Wilheim gets mad – for real, I mean – he tends to lose himself. I've only seen him mad twice, and it's not like this. During those times, you have two choices: you can either stay out of his way or try to talk some sense into him. Most people go for the first choice: he can be quite intimidating."

"Please..." Baiken said. "That boy could hardly intimidate a squirrel."

"You haven't seen him mad, Baiken," Sakura said. "I don't know about the rest of the guys, but Felicia, Ryoga, and I at least have seen him angry. And what was worse was when he was a vampire. He was twice as scary back then."

"Oh, yeah," they all agreed.

"Ukyo, you can't say anything regarding that," Ryoga scoffed. "You've never seen him really mad. He's always at relative ease when you're around."

"Believe it or not, I think I was the first to see him really mad," she said.

"Uh-huh, sure."

"I'm dead serious, Ryoga. And what turned out to be worse: try having a half-starved, pissed vampire inside your room with no one else to come help you should he try to kill you."

"...I'm not particularly a big fan of gossip, but this time around, I think it's imperative to press you to tell the details, Ukyo," Ryu muttered.

"He wasn't going to hurt me or anything," she quickly explained. "But... well, I don't think you ever saw him mad when he was a vampire. Ryoga, Felicia, and Sakura know what I'm talking about, though. They know he was very scary. His eyes shone horribly and his fangs doubled their size back in the day, and his skin became paler than usual. He was like a phantom amidst the shadows of my room that night."

"What did you do to get him mad at you?" Ken asked.

"He was weak that night and I asked him to drink a bit of my blood so that he would recover his strength."

"And then what?"

"And that's when he got mad," she said. "He hated being a vampire and couldn't stand the thought of harming me like that. Either way, he calmed down after a while, thank God. I think he noticed how terrified I was."

"Wow, that's awful..." Felicia muttered. "What happened after that?"

At that moment Kuonji smiled and turned bright red. Tilting her head to one side, she answered: "I managed to convince him to take a bite. That made us both feel... much, much better. After that, it wasn't as hard to convince him to drink anymore and he didn't get the least angry at me."

"Oh, I see," Ken chuckled. That last statement had sort of cheered the environment. "The power of a woman can hardly be countered by anything."

"The power of a woman!" suddenly intervened Yao, who apparently had heard these last words. He went beside Ken and put his arm around him. "Oh, you've got that right, pal. The power of a woman is something no one can ever conquer. To have one of them look at you with lovely eyes...! Oh! Yeah, that's really something! Tell me, Ken, did you leave a special someone back home?"

"A special s—but of course I did," Ken answered, letting out a laugh. "Yep, the most beautiful in the whole wide word. Her name's Eliza. We're going to get married soon, you know."

"Oh, way to go, my friend!" Yao said, punching him in the arm playfully.

"I still have to meet the perfect girl," Ling added cheerfully. "But I know what I'm looking for: someone who'll laugh at my jokes and that can dish them out as well as I can."

"What about the rest of you, friends?" gently asked Chien-Po. "Do you have darlings waiting for you when you return?"

"Oh, Ryu has a girlfriend, all right," Ken chuckled, turning to his companion.

"Really?" Ryu muttered, frowning. "Well, she's done a poor job at keeping me informed."

"You underestimate yourself, pal," Ken said. "Chun-Li would be very sad if she knew you denied her like that."

"She's not my girlfriend!" Ryu exclaimed yet, strangely enough, his face turned bright red. Noticing this, we all burst out in laughter.

"And you, guys?" asked Chien-Po. At this point, Wilheim had begun to approach the rest of us, although he kept his distance a bit. I guess he was still a bit mad, but curiosity was driving him near us.

"I have a girlfriend," Ryoga said. "Her name's Sakura. I can't wait to get back home and give her a big kiss."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate it, mate," Sakura chuckled with a phony, manly voice.

"And you, tough guy?" Ling asked me. "I bet chicks are all over you, huh?"

"Well, I do have a few admirers," I grunted... What? I really do... Although they're not girls.

"You've got someone too, I bet, eh, Baiken?" Yao chuckled. "You also look like quite the ladies' man!" he added with a big laugh.

"Not very interested in girls," Baiken replied ever so dryly. Really, I didn't think that woman would be interested in anything that wasn't tobacco or booze.

"Ah, a shame for the chicks," the man laughed. And then, he turned to Wilheim and said aloud: "I bet you're normal like the rest of us and do have an interest in ladies, huh, boy?"

"Yes, you could say that," he replied, trying to sound indifferent, but I could see that he was dying to participate in the conversation. To see him try to act all tough was so funny... he was so adorable.

"So, let's hear it!" Yao pressed.

"Well, I do have a special someone, like you say," Wilheim declared. "She is a lovely woman: the most beautiful creature in the face of the Earth. But alas, she sometimes can be a bit mean. Yet it matters not: I endure her insults, for I love her more than I love life."

"Oh, you're such a drama queen, Will!" laughed Kuonji. "She just teases you. You don't have to get all worked up about it. You know, I really do think she'd like to see you and have you give her a sweet kiss instead of whining about unimportant matters of the sort."

"You know, sometimes I can't be sure," the boy mumbled.

"It seems the misses has misbehaved," chuckled Ling. "I think she could do with a little spanking!"

I think Wilheim was about to scold Ling for that remark. I saw it in his eyes. But Kuonji pulled out a card from her sleeve that I would've never expected to see.

"I bet she'd enjoy that," she said.

The guys – those that knew we were girls – almost became petrified, while the rest of the men roared in laughter. Akane, Mulan, Felicia, and Sakura turned bright red as they heard her friend's words. Baiken merely limited herself to smile faintly and puffed on her pipe. I did my best to remain uninterested, but I believe I might've blushed, even if a bit. She really did know how to make Wilheim's anger vanish. You must imagine, of course, that the boy's face had become as crimson as a juicy tomato and had found no words to say. There was not any trace of anger left in his eyes. I bet Kuonji's remark had killed it all. Well... I recognize the girl was more ingenious than I'd thought. That flirt had really been sharp.

But all of a sudden, the laughter stopped as Li-Shang raised his hand and we all turned to our lefts. The cheery, warm mood we had enjoyed suddenly became a cold sensation which chilled us to the bone.

Clouds had covered the once blue sky and snow was falling, coating the road, mountains, and freezing rivers. Nevertheless, the blizzard's chill had not sufficed to put out the fire that had viciously gnawed the houses of the ruined village that lay lifeless before us. Smoke still rose from the fallen buildings and the ashes were roused by the wind and became mixed with the snowflakes. The scent of burnt wood and flesh was all about us. Death had come to this town and had taken it back to the shadows... Ironically, Mushu had done well by writing that fake letter and giving it to Chi Fu. Sadly, though, we had been too late. We had passed from being valiant soldiers to gloomy gravediggers.

"Be on your guards," Li Shang said in a low, yet firm voice. "Scout the town for survivors. And find out where the rest of the Imperial Army is."

Quietly, we did as we were told. However, I don't think that any of us was really that alert. We were simply too shocked by the macabre scene in front of us that it was difficult to think clearly. I really can't recall what thoughts ran through my head as I stepped onto a crumbled piece of burnt wood and moved a shattered door aside to see if someone was alive under it. I found only snow, ashes, and blood. I couldn't reason. I just felt fear, despair, and anger.

Most of the soldiers established a perimeter as the rest of us looked for someone who still had life within his body. But nothing could be seen. The village, which had once, it seemed, been a proud town for humble folks had been erased from existence, but the memory of its fall had been seared on our thoughts. And this was all just the beginning...

I kept on lifting whatever debris I found, yet there was no sign of anything. I was so confused I could barely move about the shattered buildings. My companions seemed a bit more attentive and were scavenging through the debris thoroughly, yet somewhat slowly. Mulan and I, it seemed, were too impressed to do much good. Oh, and Felicia wasn't in the best shape, either. I could see she was trembling and could start crying at any moment. She had to hold back her tears, however... we were still pretending to be tough, valiant soldiers.

As Ryu came near me, I ventured to turn to him and ask him in a whisper: "Do you think the Heartless you talked about did this?"

"Burn the town down?" Ryu murmured back. I nodded my head, waiting for an answer as Mulan walked to us and listened quietly. "I'm not sure... The Heartless we fought in our past battles fought differently. They tried to capture the hearts of their victims... I don't recall them burning any towns or pillaging... Unless they're more evolved Heartless, like the ones we fought in Gaia, but it's unlikely, I think."

"The enemies you seek... they're called 'Heartless'?" Mulan asked.

"Yeah," Ryu answered.

"They should better be dead by the time we find them," Ken suddenly intervened aloud as he lifted a piece of wood. "Because if they live, then I'm going to..." he found no more words and kept on searching while breathing heavily, fire in his eyes.

"Hey!" Li Shang snapped in a low voice and walked towards us. "Enough chit-chat. Keep looking for survivors and keep your eyes peeled. The enemy could be right about the corner. Go on, carry on. And find out where the Imperial Army is!"

"Yes, sir," we replied and resumed our search.

All those feeling within my heart made me want to vomit. But I had to remain strong. I had to keep looking. If I found one living person... just one... it would be enough. But the scent of death was so fierce, I was certain there would be nothing more than burnt carcasses. I felt I was going to lose my mind as I walked to a fallen house, along with Mulan, and began to lift up wood and stones.

A broken, burnt door lay before me. Taking a deep breath, I picked it up. And when I saw what was beneath it, my heart stopped for an instant and I nearly shouted with terror. Mulan immediately noticed the burnt, naked body of the little girl I had just uncovered and gasped, leaping back. Beside her, lay a small doll; her hand tried to reach it, as if by just touching it she would come back to life. But the child had breathed her last. What was more, as we looked closer at the wreckage of the building, we noticed the little girl's parents, also burnt and maimed. Their arms stretched towards the child, never to hold her again... I had never seen something so terrible in my entire life.

"Oh, Gods, help us," Mulan whimpered in a low voice, falling to her knees.

"Those... goddamn sons of bitches," I muttered, gritting my teeth. Even though I was horrified by the picture before me, I also felt a deep hatred I had never known before. I wanted to find the people who had done this and make them pay with the full fury of my fists and legs.

Seconds afterwards, we heard surprised cries from the rest of the soldiers, who had also begun to uncover the missing villagers. What horrid place had we stumbled into? It was a nightmare from which we couldn't wake up...

"God, no," Wilheim muttered at our backs. We turned to him and noticed him staring at the little girl with tears nearly escaping his eyes. He went by her side and knelt by her body. Slowly, he took her in his arms and held her fiercely. He broke into a silent cry and rocked the girl back and forth as his tears fell on her blistered skin. "Forgive me," he gently whispered. "I once took your life and now I have failed to save it..."

"...Wilheim?" I mumbled and put my hand on his shoulder. And if you think that I was trying to flirt with him at that moment, then you have a lower opinion on me than I thought. I liked Wilheim physically, no doubt, but he was also a sweet boy with a tern heart, and to see him like that was truly painful. I wished to comfort him... However, he merely turned to me with intense sadness and fury in his eyes. Not towards me, of course. But as I looked at them, I understood the horror my companions had talked about: though he wasn't a vampire, I felt deeply afraid as I looked upon those green candles which seemed to house fierce spirits of vengeance...

"They will pay for this," he assured, firmly. "I swear it..."

"Men!" Li Shang said, approaching us. "Any luck?"

"None, captain," Wilheim replied and dried his eyes before turning to see the commanding officer. "Sir, I do not think that there are enemies nearby. Otherwise, we would have been attacked already."

"Yes, I think you're right," he sighed.

"What should we do with the bodies, then?"

Li Shang remained thoughtful for a few moments before answering. His eyes strayed to the snow-covered mountains and then he said: "Let us cremate them completely, so may their ashes meld with the spirits of the mounts and find ever-lasting peace and rest."

"Captain! Captain!" shouted one of the soldiers and ran to him at full speed. "We've found the Imperial Army, sir,"

"What? Where? What's their status?" Li Shang hastily asked. I suppose that, more than anything, he wished to know what had happened to his father.

"...I think you should better come and take a look, captain," muttered the soldier gloomily. Those were definitively not good news. Li Shang gulped and with a silent nod, he followed our fellow warrior as he made his way through this horrid graveyard.

"Yes, sir," Wilheim said and got up, still holding the child. As Li Shang walked away, I tried to talk to him again.

"Are you okay, Wilheim?"

"I am very far from being okay," he answered. "This poor girl lies dead in my arms... I... I could not save her."

"It wasn't our fault, Wilheim," I whispered.

"Yes... Wilheim," added Mulan, who had finally managed to find her voice once more. "There was nothing we could do."

"It matters not," he sighed. "Help me carry her parents. They should at least be close to their baby during the eternity of their final rest."

And with that said, he took the child to the center of the town, where the soldiers had already set a fire on the dead bodies they had found so far. With a nod, we did as we were told and placed the girl's mom and dad beside her. With trembling lips and burning eyes, we watched as the family was consumed by the flames in silence.

"I need to breathe some fresh air," Wilheim murmured.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" I said to him.

"Let me be for the time being," he replied and walked away.

Moments later, we found out that our fellow soldiers had in fact found the imperial army. Unfortunately, all of them, all until the last men, lay dead on the ground. Their skins were not scorched, however: they had been cut, clobbered, and torn. By the look of things, they had let loose a fierce battle and had died with honor. Yet their mission had ended in failure.

What was most tragic was that Li Shang's father had been no exception. Chien Po, who had been searching for living men on what had been the field of battle, soon returned to the Captain's side with a sad expression upon his face and a mighty-looking helmet in his hands. With a sigh, he presented it to our commanding officer.

"The General," he said.

Li Shang took the helmet and stared at it for the longest time. I could not see his eyes, for he had his back turned on us. I can only imagine what sort of pain he felt. But in the end, he managed to keep his cool and, taking a hold of his father's sword, which had also been brought to him, he walked up to the edge of a nearby cliff and there, he buried his father's sword on the snow and let his helmet rest by its side. He made a silent prayer, got up, and resumed the search for survivors. Nevertheless, as he walked towards the battle field, Mulan stood in front of him and told him with a soft, hurt voice: "I'm so sorry." Li Shang turned to her and put his arm on her shoulder, thanking her sympathy with his mere glance...

There was still work to be done. There were a lot of houses we hadn't searched. But before that, there was something I felt I needed to do... This would clearly mark my defeat regarding winning Wilheim over: I walked towards Kuonji and tapped her shoulder.

"Kuonji," I began. "I think you should speak with your boy—I mean, with Will. He seems really upset and you're his... best friend."

Startled by my words, she looked for Wilheim with her eyes and, upon finding him, hastily went to his side, but not before giving me a soft glance and nodding. You might say a truce had been settled.

As I went back to work, I began to think that perhaps the robots that had attacked me that day might've had something to do with all of this mess. After all, they had also burned my restaurant down. Yet there were many sorts of swords on the ground and the footsteps seemed human enough. I tried to look for a screw or a piece of metal or something of the sort, but I found nothing. That could mean either one of two things: either there had been no robots around, or the villagers and the soldiers had not even managed to scratch one. Thinking about this, I realized all of the dead bodies belonged to villagers and soldiers, but there didn't seem to be any foreign carcasses. By the prints on the snow, it appeared that some had been carried out from the field of battle before we had gotten there. Even so, one thing was certain: our enemies were ruthless and evil and terribly dangerous.

I walked to the house which was farthest from the town's center. In its center, lay two more victims of the village's massacre. It seemed to be a young couple. They lay lifeless on a pile of bright, red wood, smoke still rising from their bodies. They embraced each other fiercely. I really didn't know if I would be able to stand all of this much longer.

But that was when things began to get really bad. Because, the moment I approached the dead bodies to carry them away, I heard footsteps. Amidst the falling snowflakes, I immediately noticed a little boy with short, black hair and eyes, whose red clothes were all stained by smoke and ashes. He didn't seem hurt at all. And though that was quite a relief, I saw in his eyes the most horrible suffering you can imagine. He was in shock: he couldn't even cry. Yet, as he advanced towards me, his gaze was lost in the two dead bodies. I could see that he wanted to yell their names, but fear kept him from even grunting. The poor thing shivered intensely and his skin was as pale as the snow. And it seemed that no force on Earth would drive his glance away from the dead couple.

The look of that lonely survivor broke my heart. Unable to remain firm, I began to cry as I rushed to the little boy and held him as hard as I could. I did my best not to sob frantically as I put his head on my shoulder and curled my fingers around his hair.

"It's okay, honey," I whispered in his ear. Obviously it was not freaking okay. But I couldn't think of anything else to say. "It's going to be okay, sweetheart. I promise... I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you, baby!"

I could feel him trembling, still. He was still unable to weep. But at the very least, he returned the hug. I never thought I'd live to see something so painful as this. I could only imagine the things that the boy felt at that time. To see your loved ones burnt to death... I began to understand how Wilheim felt and cursed myself for being too late. If only I could revive them... if only for a few moments so they could say good-bye to their boy... But I'm no miracle doer. I'm just a useless chef.

"Reinhart..." muttered a low voice behind me. It had been Baiken. Without letting go of the kid, I turned to her. She was truly shocked... amazing. Her eyes were fixed on the little boy's parents, also muted by the horrible sight. I dried my tears a bit and kissed the boy on his forehead before speaking. Not to sob was really nearly impossible for me at that moment.

"He's alive," I said. "He... well, he needs to rest." I really had no idea of what to say, as you can see.

"Right... rest," Baiken mumbled. She was out of words, too.

At that moment, Felicia noticed the little boy and came running to us. She knelt by our side and took a hold of the child.

"Hey, there," she whispered. "Come here, little guy. Come: I'll get you something to eat. Do you want something to eat?" The little boy nodded silently. "Come here, then, sweetheart. We'll take good care of you, I promise." The little boy went to her and hugged her fiercely as she carried him away. She turned to me and murmured: "It'll be okay."

I remained on my knees for a while. I covered my face with my hands and wept for a long while. I had never experienced the horribleness of death before. To see it torturing the heart of that little boy had been... God... even now I can't think of anything to say. All I know is that I'll never forget the eyes of that innocent creature.

Baiken remained still and silent. I could not even hear her breaths. But she was there. Something inside of her had stirred... What could it have possibly been? Though I thought I knew the answer, I didn't dare to ask about it at the time being, nor did I want to.

In the end, I managed to stop sobbing and dried my eyes completely. I got up and turned to Baiken. Incredibly, her eyes hadn't strayed from the young couple. I began to wonder if she was doing even worse than me...

"Baiken?" I asked. "What's wrong?"

"...Nothing," she muttered, finally coming out of her trance. "You know, that boy knows you're a woman. He could blow our cover."

"Like I give a damn about it," I said. "That poor thing saw his parents die, for crying out loud. He needed someone to hold on to." I let out a sigh and then, turning to Felicia, I added: "It seems she's good with children. That's a nice thing to know."

"Yeah," she murmured. Once again, her glance was captured by the cadavers, but not for too long. "Come on," she said. "Help me carry them. Let's take them with the others."

Nodding, I got a hold of the mother, while Baiken bore the father on her back. She took a few steps forward and stopped all of a sudden. Turning to me, I saw rage in her eyes as she whispered: "Whoever did this deserves to die a horrible death. When we find them, by God, I'll make sure of that." Indeed, something had hurt her...

_(Change of scene)_

We burned the bodies and prayed for the souls of the men and women that had died defending their town, honor, and children. Afterwards, we moved on, silently, gloomily. The little boy, who was understandably and deeply traumatized, traveled inside a cart which was pulled by Mulan's horse, right next to Felicia, who didn't stop to caress him tenderly and to whisper soft songs onto his ears. It wasn't long until the poor thing fell into a deep sleep.

Regarding this, it was decided that the boy would be safer by our side than if we sent him back to another town with a single rider. For all we know, the enemy could be waiting nearby, ready to ambush us. No, he was better with us. At least that was the general consensus at that moment.

None of us was doing fine. Wilheim had once again separated from our little group and walked all by himself, silently, with wild resolve and fury in his glance. Ken was also seemingly pissed. And let's not forget about Baiken... I think I'd never seen her angrier. The rest of us, however, were simply too shocked and sad to actually depict rage, although it was there, just waiting for a chance to escape.

After a while of walking without saying a word, Akane turned to Kuonji and asked in a low voice: "How's he doing?" I guess she was looking to start a conversation so she could get her mind off the dead villagers. Obviously, though, there wasn't much else to speak about at the moment.

"Wilheim or the boy?" she asked.

"Wilheim... I can only guess what the little kid feels like."

"You know... old memories attacked him," Kuonji said. "He's really mad. I managed to calm him down a bit so that he wouldn't do anything reckless. But the moment he sees the enemy, I don't think there'll be any force on this world strong enough to stop him."

"He won't be the only one to go berserk on the Heartless," Ken growled. "I'm going to beat the living hell out of the son of a bitch who did this."

"I never thought the Huns would be such savages..." muttered Mulan.

"Huns?" we all asked.

"Yes... those are our enemies," she said. "They've been wreaking havoc for a while now. I knew they were terrible... but I guess such evil was beyond my imagination."

"Well, Heartless or no, these foes have to be stopped," Sakura said. "For what we know, they could be allied to the freaking things." They all nodded and kept on walking silently. However, Baiken walked to me and, slightly forcing me away from the group, she said in a very low voice:

"I heard you told Ukyo to go speak to Wilheim."

"She can have him," I sighed. "It was just a whim. That doesn't mean I don't like him, though."

"Never mind that. I'm glad you finally acted maturely."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"You can take it as you like, although I'm in no mood for complementing anyone right now. Nothing personal."

"I understand..." I murmured and let out another sigh. After pausing for a moment, I somehow dared to ask her: "What happened back there? Did something happen to you?"

She took out her bottle of sake and drank a bit. After savoring the liquor for a few moments, she answered: "Ryoga asked me something of the sort some days ago. Do you know what I told him back then?"

"I heard him say something about it."

"Then I'll just spare the rudeness."

"Whatever," I grumbled. "I may be a slut by your standards, Baiken, but you're a genuine, first-class jerk."

"Okay, let's get something straight, Marmalade Jam," she grunted and stopped walking. I halted too and we looked at each other with pissed eyes. "My life is of no concern to you or to anyone – period. And even if I actually talked about it, I wouldn't say it to you. Though I wholeheartedly appreciate your concern, I'm not going to tell you squat, got it?" and with that, she kept on walking. I let out a sigh and shook my head before following the rest of the group. That woman's sarcasm was really annoying.

"Just so you know," I decided to say in a low voice. "I actually was concerned."

Baiken just shook her head and drank a bit more of her sake. Yet she then did something I would've never expected: she offered me the bottle and said: "There're still a few drops left. Care to drink them?"

Although normally the thought of drinking something Baiken had touched with her lips would disgust me, I really, REALLY needed a drink right then. I hastily got a hold of the bottle and drank what was left of the liquor. "Thanks," I mumbled, returning the container. Another truce, you might say... even if it was a really shaky one.

We kept on walking without speaking to each other anymore. Up, up, up the mountain that had kept watch over the burnt town. Soon, we were high enough to see the plains we had traversed to get to the village. It was a very pretty sight: blue lakes adorned with lilies, little rivers, tall, green grass... It sort of took our minds off the dead townsfolk for a few seconds. I think that I even dared to draw a faint smile upon my lips.

But right at that moment, we heard a loud explosion and threw ourselves to the ground. We raised our heads and noticed that Felicia had jumped out of the cart Mulan's horse had been dragging (with the boy in her arms, naturally), because something had just gone off in there. It had been one cannon which had impacted against the snowy mountain. Thankfully it hadn't provoked an avalanche. Mulan quickly realized what had happened and looked at the cart's interior with a furious glance. There was Mushu, looking like a startled idiot, unable to move. All he managed to do was point his finger at Felicia, as if blaming it on her, to which the cat-woman almost hissed.

"What the hell did you just do??" Li Shang demanded as he ran to Felicia and the boy. "You just pointed our exact location to the enemy! Now we're in grave—!" but before he could say another word, a ball of dark sorcery crashed against him, knocking him to the ground.

We all looked up and noticed a platoon of shadows had appeared. The soldiers quickly unsheathed their weapons. Some drew their swords and some other drew their bows and arrows. Li Shang hastily got up and signaled everybody to move away from the enemy, behind a pile of rocks which lay nearby. It seemed that we had finally found our hated adversaries.

"Get the cannons over here!" cried Li Shang. Mulan nodded and hastily grabbed her horse's reins and directed him to safety. The soldiers then unloaded all of the cannons from the cart and eagerly waited for Li Shang to give the order so they could start firing.

It didn't take long for the captain to give the shout: "FIRE!!"

The shadows stepped back as a dozen projectiles flew their way and crashed against the mountain. Some of them died, but not many. A lot of those fiends took cover behind the mountain's stony walls. It seemed that neither of us would do much damage, given the territory. Only a brutal hand-to-hand battle would decide the winner of this fight. Naturally, though, we weren't going to run to them. The territory wasn't favorable at all.

"Wait for them," Li Shang instructed as the shadows started to gather. Their numbers were alarming. I soon realized we were outnumbered almost fifty-to-one.

Yet that didn't seem to scare my companions. Instead, they seemed eager to engage in combat... What am I saying? I really wanted a piece of those bastards as well. That's why, when the shadows began their charge against us, we quickly left our hiding place and waited for them in the open field. The rest of the soldiers did the same. I didn't see fear in any of their faces: just resolved anger. The only one that stayed behind was Felicia, who kept close watch over the little boy.

"If we die," Li Shang muttered. "We will die with honor."

With that said, the soldiers fired a couple more cannons, destroying about a twenty enemies with each blast. Right then, Li Shang ordered the soldiers to halt their firing: it would seem that we would need them again later, should we win this assault; for a dark man sat on his wild horse silently at the very top of the battle field, waiting for the encounter's outcome.

The soldiers fired a rain of arrows upon the enemies, killing a few more of them as they advanced through the snow. Neither my companions nor I fired any arrows. Instead, some of them had something else in store for our guests...

"What say you, Ryu?" Ken murmured. "Should we burst those Heartless-butts sky-high?" So those were the Heartless...

"I think that's an order," grumbled the warrior. "Let's all do this... Come on, guys! Let's blow them to pieces!"

As an answer to his call, Wilheim, Sakura, Ryoga, and Ranma stepped forth. They slightly bent their knees as they began to gather fierce energy to them, alongside Ryu and Ken. The soldiers contemplated in awe as the forces about them became tangible and strong currents of air started to surround their bodies. While not shocked, I was very impressed with their power.

"Ready?? Fry them! HADOKEN!!" shouted Ken and shot a blue beam of potent energy.

"HADOKEN!!" yelled Ryu, Sakura, and Wilheim, letting loose the same type of blast. Ranma and Ryoga did as their friends, only that they used different techniques. "Moko Takabisha" was the name Ranma yelled when he let loose his power while Ryoga shouted "Shishi Hokoudan" upon firing his blast.

Noticing their power and ability to wield Ki, I also studied each projectile as it traveled through the air. Sakura's and Ranma's energy blasts were the weakest. I think that the girl, although able to fire such power without much trouble, still needed to work on her skills a bit, while, as I was later told, Ranma needed to focus positive energy so that he could make a more potent attack. Needless to say, he wasn't feeling very good. Ryoga's projectile was just as powerful as Wilheim's. Opposite to his friend, Ryoga solely focused negative energy to create his blast. Feeling as angry as he was, I guess it was easy for him to make a projectile as brutal as the one he shot. Wilheim had trained a lot, it appeared, and that was why he managed to gather so much energy. Ken's blast had been even stronger than the others, but in the end, they all seemed like child's play when compared to Ryu's energy wave. The man had dedicated his life to perfect the art of the Hadoken... it was obvious his power was incredible. Either way, they all got a few kills with those attacks. Ryu killed an entire squadron of Heartless with that one blast. And, of course, the soldiers could hardly understand what had happened.

The rest of us – those that preferred to employ the use of Ki in hand-to-hand combat – waited for the Heartless to get near. And when they were just steps away from us, I immediately rushed with blinding speed at one of them and, charging my fist with amazing energy, hit him on the head, killing him with that one single blow.

Baiken did not move until one of those horrible fiends – one that seemed like a Kuang-Shi – attacked her. You know... an ugly faced phantom, long sleeves and dress... very nasty. It fired a ball of black energy at her, to which she responded by side-stepping and then flinging her right arm forward. Only that she didn't have a right arm: from her apparently empty sleeve, came a claw attached to a long chain which captured the Heartless where it hovered. Before it could try to break loose, Baiken pulled it to her and then cut it in two with a swift movement of his katana. "TETSUZANSEN!!" she exclaimed a split of second before she sheathed her weapon again and waited for her next victim, the dead body of her clumsy opponent already vanishing. I've got to give it to her: she's the best swordswoman I've ever met.

Oh, but I had only just begun to realize what my companions' true power was. Next came Kuonji's turn: a swarm of Heartless which looked like dark bees with giant mouths attacked her mercilessly. Her answer was to jump high into the air and to start spinning at an incredible speed, her giant spatula (which I thought was a very ridiculous weapon at first) aimed at her foes. Not one of those enemies touched her. Not one. And although she didn't kill them all with that move, she wasn't going to let any of them live. Just as soon as she stopped spinning, she stretched out her arm and grabbed one of the Heartless by its little legs. She used the momentum she had gained from the jump to swing back into the air and performed a single, powerful attack with her weapon. Some of the Heartless weren't even directly touched by her steel... but still, they fell dead on the ground, only to disappear seconds after. This was when I finally realized that, if Kuonji had had her hands on her spatula during our fight, she would've given me hell.

Meanwhile, a very powerful-looking Heartless had charged against me. It could best be described as a dark centaur with a long spear. I leapt over it just as it was about to hit me. It had his back turned on me now... That was it for the Heartless. First, I ran at it at full speed and threw a quick, powerful kick at its ankles. The foe fell on its knees and roared in pain. Before it could react, I used my arms to jump into the air while kicking my victim in the stomach, elevating it with me. To finish it, I used my favorite combination: following the spinning kick to the abdomen, I spun on the air and hastily focused energy on my leg, letting it loose in the shape of fire and slamming it into my opponent's face. Finally, I delivered the coupe de grace: I summoned more energy to my legs and propelled myself forward while letting out a powerful shout, the shape of an enraged dragon engulfing my foot. I literally went through him with that. I landed on the ground and beckoned the rest of those losers to come get me.

Akane and Mulan fought close to one another. Akane barely used any Ki as she threw her fists at her enemies, while Mulan did not summon energy at all. That didn't mean that they were bad fighters, though. Akane's punches were truly fearsome. I noticed that her favorite move was to grab an enemy, throw it against the ground and then break it with her hand as if she were shattering a pile of wooden tiles. Mulan was amazingly swift with her blade. It was impossible for the Heartless to surround her. Her attacks were extremely quick and certain: it didn't take her much strength to kill an enemy with a single swing of the blade, because she always hit her foes' vital spots. They fought very intelligently, much more than the rest of the soldiers, although they weren't doing too badly, to tell the truth.

Two more of those centaur-like Heartless attacked me. This time, they weren't stupid enough to charge madly at me, which was quite unfortunate. They began to spin their spears with wild fury, cutting the air about them. I rushed back so that I wouldn't be torn apart. It would be very difficult to get around those guys now that they were practically making an impenetrable shield with their weapons... But I wasn't alone in this fight. The Heartless were so concentrated in keeping me at bay that they were oblivious that Wilheim was onto them. He ran at them from the side and swung his sword with rage. The blow was so powerful that even his blade seemed to moan in anger and the snow under the Heartless' feet exploded upwards. The other centaur stopped spinning its weapon and turned to Wilheim, completely caught off guard. The boy simply stared at it with that petrifying glance of his, leaving the enemy at my mercy. Taking advantage of the Heartless' carelessness, I dashed at it and hit it on the stomach. Once he lowered its head, I delivered a flurry of punches and kicks at its face. After ten blows, it fell sideways and I finished him by leaping high into the air and falling on his head with both of my heels. I gave a slight nod to Wilheim, thanking him for his aid, and continued battling.

Felicia hardly faced any opponents, for only a scant few made it through us. She was the little boy's last defense, for she remained very close to him. However, these survivors were quickly dealt with. The feline was even faster than me, although I don't think her attacks were as powerful. She might've been all peaches and cream during our training, but at that moment, she was a tigress looking after her cub. A single swipe of her paws could mow down a swarm of those tiny Heartless. She was really, really mad. Her eyes had changed... since the moment I'd met her, they had been adorable, little kitty eyes. Now she froze her enemies with the gaze of a hungry lion. She didn't spare any mercy on the Heartless. And after hastily dealing with the few idiots that managed to get by us, she immediately returned to the little boy's side. The poor thing hid behind a rock and was scared out of his wits.

Yet another group of Heartless came after me. It seemed to me that I wouldn't be able to get rid of all of them so easily this time. Unless I really showed them what I was made of... I was in no mood of toying with my opponents, so I decided to end it quickly. A swarm of tiny Heartless flew at me, followed by a centaur and two of those Kuang-Shi-like Heartless. I let them think they had caught my by surprise and allowed them to close in on me. Once they were about to attack me, I instantly gathered an enormous amount of Ki within the palms of my hands and produced an immensely powerful explosion which engulfed my body and the ones of my enemies.

"RENHOUKYAKU!!" I shouted as loud as I could for the first time since the fight had begun. During all that time, I had managed to keep quiet, but the intensity of the fight possessed me and so I was unable to hold the yell. I really hoped no one had noticed...

Either way, my strategy worked wonderfully. My opponents disappeared in the blink of an eye. Well, that's what they got for messing with me. Once I had finished doing that, I noticed we were sort of running out of enemies. I think that the ones that had the most company were Sakura, Ryoga, Ryu, and Ken.

The boys were pretty good. Ryoga's and Sakura's skills were nearly equal. Only that he was stronger and she was more resourceful. Ryoga could create small explosions on the ground to distract the Heartless while Sakura attacked them from behind with a swift combination of punches and kicks. They made a great team.

Ryu and Ken were simply frightening. And as a team, they were even more menacing. While he was very flamboyant and his moves appeared wasteful from time to time, Ken could make short work of a centaur in just a few seconds. He constantly pressed the enemy with kicks and punches. Whenever he saw an opening, he stopped messing around and really kicked the opponents' butts with amazing techniques. Aggressiveness was his game... the same as me. I don't know if he fought like that all the time or if it was just the fact that he was really pissed. Ryu, on the other hand, was much more patient and studied his foes more before attacking. Yet, as soon as he knew how to beat the Heartless he was facing, he made short work of them with moves which were even more accurate than Ken's.

The few Heartless that remained were quickly dealt with by the soldiers. Wilheim joined their ranks and began to swing his monstrous sword from side to side, killing monsters by the dozens. That sword's power was unlike anything I'd ever witnessed before. It practically roared as Wilheim cut the air about him. He had no grace whatsoever, but his strength was the one of a titan...

The battle reached its end after a few moments. We hadn't suffered even one casualty. It had been a real massacre. I really couldn't understand why my companions had said so many terrible things about the Heartless when they were clearly just a bunch of weaklings. But then I remembered they had burned that town... and was glad that we slaughtered them like that.

The army was already celebrating victory. However, Li Shang seemed aware that there was something amiss. Because he knew our true enemy had yet to reveal himself. And before long, the enemy's general appeared at the top of the snowy mountain.

The tall, dark man rode a black horse. His height and build were quite intimidating. He seemed to be wearing warm clothes... even if they were covered with dirt and blood. He held a sharp, shiny sword in his right hand; I guess there's no need to tell you that it had red stains all over it... His eyes were truly evil: yellow irises engulfed by black orbs. I could see the lust for blood in them and grew even angrier.

"It's him... Shan Yu..." Mulan whispered under her breath.

Nevertheless, my rage vanished as I saw that the battle was far from over. As he aimed the tip of his sword at us, an enormous army of villains appeared from the snow. These men weren't Heartless – at least those types of monsters –: they were bloodthirsty warriors willing to give their lives for their demented leader. Amazingly, they were much numerous than the former enemies and didn't seem to be no pushovers whatsoever. In an instant, they charged at us. Seeing them running down the hill, they seemed deadlier than any avalanche.

We had been victorious in our previous battle, but we were somewhat tired. I really didn't know if we would be able to take on an army of the magnitude of the one that rushed at us with wild fury... The little boy moaned in fear and Felicia hugged him fiercely, assuring him that he would be okay, before stepping up beside us. The cat-woman wasn't scared at all, and neither were Ken, Baiken, or Wilheim. The rest of us, however, were not doing so good. While I was still really mad, the sight of so many foes had filled my heart with doubt. Even so, we stood still, waiting for our enemies to arrive so we could give them hell before failing, at least.

"Yao, bring one of those cannons over here," Li Shang ordered firmly. I guess the captain had already accepted our destiny: his voice didn't quail as he spoke. Yao, brave until the end, did as he was told and placed the cannon directly at Li Shang's feet. "This one is for Shan Yu. The rest of you, fire at will!" he yelled to the other soldiers. "Let's show them what China's sons are made of!"

Following his words, dozens of explosions took place. Many of Shan Yu's men fell lifeless on the snow and rolled down hill, but not enough. We were still vastly outnumbered. Taking a deep breath, we kept on waiting for the enemies, hoping for a miracle...

"Wait...! Ping, what are you doing?!" shouted Li Shang all of a sudden. At that moment, we all realized Mulan had taken a hold of the cannon Li Shang had saved for Shan Yu and was running up the hill to his encounter with it. "Don't! Get back here!"

Before we could call her name or even run after her, she slid on the snow, falling on her knees, and placed the cannon on the ground. She aimed it to the highest peak of the mountain and struggled to light the fuse. Shan Yu charged at her, his sword ready to cut through her neck. Felicia and I went to her aid, as did Li Shang. But just then, Mulan grabbed Mushu, who had poked his head out of Mulan's shirt, and forced him to breathe fire into the fuse. The cannon flew at full up into the air just one second before Shan Yu killed her.

"YOU MISSED!!" Mushu wailed. "How could you miss?! He was standing right in front of you!!" Before long, however, the little dragon stopped cursing Mulan's aim when he noticed that she hadn't pointed the cannon at Shan Yu...

The leader of the enemy stopped in his tracks as he noticed the projectile fly into the mountain's peak. A low rumbling was heard as the mountain began to crumble. Mulan's plan finally became clear to us... Shan Yu glanced at our friend with rage and, before we could help it, he swung his sword at Mulan, hurting her stomach.

"Get away!!" Felicia roared as we both rushed at the enemy. The cat-woman grabbed Mulan and dragged her away from Shan Yu while I filled my fist with Ki and hit his leg as hard as I could, knocking him off his horse.

"AVALANCHE!!" cried Li Shang as he helped us carry Mulan to safety. The rest of the soldiers had already taken refuge behind a pile of large rocks. If luck smiled upon us, that would suffice to save us from the snow's onslaught. But Shan Yu wasn't done for yet.

The leader of the Huns caught up with us before we could make it to safety. Behind him, his troops were dying under the mountain's assault, but I could see he couldn't care less: in his eyes, I could only see immense hatred and frustration. If he was going to die, then at least he would take Mulan, the warrior who had foiled his victory, with him.

First, he grabbed Li Shang by the shoulders and head-butted him, leaving him almost unconscious. Then, before we could react, he took a hold of Felicia and threw her with all of his strength to the cliff. However, the cat-woman was quick enough to use her claws to hold her ground. Nevertheless, she had been thrown very far from us: the best option for her now was to take refuge along with the other soldiers. She would surely die if she tried to help us now... As for me, Shan Yu kicked me in the face. He was really strong; his attack hurt a lot. That really set me off. I could see that he was preparing to land the fatal blow on Mulan, but before he could do it, I got back on my feet and elbowed his nose, stunning him with that blow. Before he could recover, I leapt high into the air and delivered a terrible kick. Again, I couldn't help but to yell as loud as I could. "RYUJIN!!"

Shan Yu rolled over the ground and landed on the snow, unable to move before the snow caught him. I had really given him quite a blow... but we were lost, now. Li Shang, Mulan, and I were about to be overrun by the mountain. There was nowhere to run with the snow so close to us. Yet right as I begun to give up hope, a loud neigh made us look behind.

Mulan's horse hastily reached its owner and helped her to get on its back. That animal's loyalty was truly admirable. Gathering the last of her strength, Mulan picked Li Shang up and placed him next to her. Then, she offered me her hand just as the snow reached her horse's legs. The animal began to run to the rocks as fast as it could and I barely managed to get a hold of Mulan's hand. But the snow was much faster and deadlier than any army of Heartless or any Huns. It snared my legs like a lethal vine and snatched me away from Mulan's hand.

That was it for me, I figured. No amount of Ki would suffice to save me from the fall I was about to face. Many images began to come up to my mind as the snow entered my screaming mouth and dragged me against the rocky ground. Memories of all my fights, of the days in which I was learning how to cook, of the day I had managed to finally afford my own restaurant... All of that was about to end. Before long, I stopped feeling the sharp rocks attacking my body and only felt the void that beckoned me to my death.

All of a sudden, it stopped. I looked at the ground, which was so very far away, and swung to my left violently. Nevertheless, I didn't fall... because something had caught my leg.

The snow inside my mouth finally made it out of my body. I coughed and shook and yelled in horror as I looked at the deep bottom of the precipice. I had never been so scared in my entire life. But then, I looked up and – you wouldn't believe it – and saw that Kuonji was grabbing my ankles as hard as she could, her own life hanging from a thread. That's what I call freaking embarrassing.

"I've got you!" she shouted.

Before any of us could do anything else, the storm of snow began to pour onto the precipice. From time to time, we could hear the desperate shouts of the Huns, who fell helplessly to their demise. Kuonji and I, however, didn't move an inch... For my part, I was petrified.

"My God..." she muttered. "Wilheim, please don't let go!!"

"For my life, I will do no such a thing!!" responded the boy. Again I looked up and noticed that he was also grabbing Kuonji by the ankles... I couldn't see who was holding him, but there had to be someone, for he was also hanging from the edge of the cliff.

The rocks shook as the snow battered them with all its might. I suppose that's because no one was pulling us up yet. The Huns kept falling to the abyss, yelling in horror as death gazed at them in the eyes. I really felt that at any moment, I would follow them. If Kuonji so much as remembered the beating I had given her some days ago... game over. Okay: so I'm exaggerating. Kuonji was sore at me, for sure, but she wouldn't let me go just because of that.

I never saw Shan Yu fall, but I was pretty sure he was among the rest of the unfortunate Huns. And as this thought leapt onto my agitated mind, I remembered Mulan and Li Shang.

"Where are they?!" I yelled Kuonji. "Mulan and Li Shang: are they okay??"

"They made it to the rocks," she replied. "Just keep the hell still now! You're beginning to slip!"

"No! Don't let go!!" I begged and became as stiff as the dead.

"We are done!" suddenly yelled Wilheim. "Hold on, they will pull us up, now!"

"Hurry! I can't hold on much longer!" Kuonji exclaimed.

At that moment, whoever was holding us began to pull. My heart nearly escaped my mouth as I felt the sudden yank. Little by little, they brought us back to the relative safety of the ground. With every pull they gave, though, I felt how my ankles slipped from Kuonji's hands more and more. I silently prayed that she would be able to hold on until we reached land... And just about the time I felt she couldn't hang on any longer, I heard Wilheim say aloud: "Reinhart, give me your hand!"

Before looking up I threw my arm backwards and found his hand, thank God. He and Kuonji pulled me up and dragged me away from the rim. In a matter of moments, we were laying on the ground, breathing hard, trying to slow our heartbeats back to normal.

"Shit, you three are quite the freaking load," Baiken grunted and rubbed her half arm as she retracted the chain that had been attached to Wilheim's legs during all that time. Perfect: Kuonji and Baiken had just saved my life. I didn't mind Wilheim doing it... what was more: for saving my life twice I decided that I would cook him for free the rest of my life. But those other two goons... damn, I would never hear the end of it.

"Are you okay, Reinhart?" asked Akane, walking up to me.

"I'm okay," I mumbled, still out of breath. "I'm okay..." Evidently, I was still as pale as a ghost and was bathed in cold sweat.

I then felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning to it, I noticed that the little boy was kneeling beside me, looking at me with concern. I forced a smile upon my lips and rubbed his little hand tenderly.

"I'm okay, honey," I whispered. "Thanks, sweetheart."

"He's going to be fine, sugar. Don't worry about him," Kuonji said gently, patting the little boy's head. She was in much better shape than me. I then had to do something that really freaking hurt my pride...

"Kuonji," I said. "Thank you. I really thank you."

I guess she wasn't expecting me to thank her just yet, because it took her a bit of time to reply.

"You're welcome, Kuradoberi."

Oh, but my humiliation had to continue. That's the penalty I had to suffer for being so overconfident.

"And you two... Wilheim... and Baiken," I forced myself to say. "Thank you, too."

"Yeah, sure, kid. Just be more careful next time," Baiken replied, ever so presumptuous. Just because she had just saved me, I let her have that for free. Wilheim was much kinder, though.

"There is no need to thank us, my friend," he said. "All that matters is that you are safe now."

"Everyone's alive..." Li Shang murmured, unable to believe this himself. We all looked at him as he turned to Mulan with rage. "Ping!!" he shouted. "You are the craziest soldier I've ever known!" Mulan lowered her head and turned red with shame. But then, Li Shang's gaze became grateful and he added: "And you're also the bravest. You're a real hero... You saved my life."

The whole army cheered as Mulan unavoidably smiled happily and respectfully bowed to Li Shang. The captain drew a genuine happy smile on his lips for the first time and put his hand on her shoulder. Yet right then, Mulan grunted and fell on her knees.

"What's wrong?" Li Shang asked as he held her with concern. The girl looked at him with weak eyes and then we all noticed she was bleeding... We had all but forgotten Shan Yu's brutal attack. "Darn..." Li Shang murmured. "DOCTOR!!"

_(Change of scene)_

The doctor had taken quite a long time in checking over Mulan. The soldiers were restless. They were all very worried that there would be something really wrong with our companion. But we know that the cut hadn't been too deep. No, sir... I'm sure that the doctor had soon found out that there were a couple of things wrong with our manly friend. Yep: we were screwed.

We all knew what was coming. We all thought about it the moment Li Shang asked for a doctor to take care of Mulan's wounds. Even Baiken had tried to convince Li Shang to let her take care of Mulan. I do think she would've made a good job tending the girl's cuts. However, the young captain refused to accept her help...

My companions and I sat by the tent where Mulan was being examined without saying a word. The little boy remained close to Felicia, holding her hand, still too shocked to say anything. The rest of us were pretty concerned about what would happen next.

"You think the doctor will find out?" Ryoga murmured.

"If he's as stupid as you are, then perhaps we'll be safe," Baiken growled.

"I'm tired of you treating me like I'm some sort of retard, Baiken!" the boy answered, doing his best to keep his voice low.

"Then stop acting like an asshole, damn it!"

"Baiken, keep it down!" Felicia murmured, covering the boy's ears. "Please don't shout in front of the kid... he's been through a lot already."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," she grumbled. "I know; sorry."

"What's going to happen when they find out Mulan's a girl?" Akane asked Ranma in a whisper.

"I don't know," he replied, shaking his head. "But she did save Li Shang's life after all... that ought to count for something."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Ryu said. "After all, Li Shang's very strict. More than hoping that they will accept Mulan, we should start thinking about what will we do."

As if on cue, at that moment, the doctor stepped out of Mulan's tent and called for Li Shang. The captain went to the physician's side and they exchanged some words before he stepped into the tent. Then, Chi Fu approached the doctor and demanded to know what was happening. Again, they spoke in a low voice and, seconds later, the horrible man's face became red with anger and immediately stepped into the tent.

"Here we go..." muttered Ken and got to his feet.

"SO IT IS TRUE!!" cried Chi Fu from inside the tent. "Unbelievable!!" At that moment, the man stepped out, dragging Mulan by her arm as she desperately tried to cover her breasts with a blanket, while Li Shang silently followed them. "A WOMAN!!" he cried. "This foul creature has deceived us all! Treason! It's an outrage!"

"...Foul creature?" I muttered, beginning to get pissed.

"Please!" Mulan exclaimed, faking her voice no longer. "You have to understand... My father is sick! I had to do this to protect him!"

"Shame and disgrace to your family! Ingrate daughter!" Chi Fu yelled.

"Who are you? What is your real name?" demanded Li Shang. Well, he certainly was very mad.

"My name is Mulan," she replied. "I'm really Fa Zhou's daughter... Please, Li Shang... he would've died if he would've come!"

"Shut up, creature!" Chi Fu demanded, slapping her face, knocking her to the ground.

"Hey, leave her alone!!" I roared, taking a step forth. The rest of my companions looked at me in shock, yet didn't try to stop me.

"You stay out of this if you know what's best for you, boy!" Chi Fu barked. And then, he turned to Li Shang, and said: "Captain, you know what the penalty is for this treachery... go on: kill her."

"No, please!" Mulan begged. Like hell I was going to let that happen.

"If you want to kill her, then you'll have to come through me," I growled and removed my helmet and upper armor. The chill was killing me, but the soldiers needed a clear view of what they were up against. "And believe me; I won't sell my life cheap."

"Outrageous!!" Chi Fu cried, nearly fainting. He was three seconds away from having me kicking him where the sun don't shine. "Another of those creatures, here! Li Shang, kill her!"

The captain was too shocked to do a thing. Actually, the whole army was speechless... well, except for my companions. And again, the most unlikely person stepped forth to back me up.

"I'm not letting you touch Mulan or Jam," Kuonji said, removing her helmet and breastplate. "You'll have to deal with me, too."

"...Shit, what the hell?" Baiken sighed and made her stand beside us, relieving herself from her armor. "I'm a girl, too, believe it or not. Try to be a little manlier, Chi Fu: you sound as if you've never seen a pair of jugs in your life... which wouldn't surprise me at all."

"How dare you, vile beast?!" Chi Fu yelled. "You will pay for your insolence!"

"Impossible..." muttered Li Shang, still incredibly astonished.

"Hey, boy, don't be so stupid," Baiken said. "What's truly impossible here is that you still haven't realized that more than half of your best warriors were actually women."

"WHAT??" cried Chi Fu.

And so Sakura, Akane, and Felicia revealed their true identity. The little boy got up and hugged the cat-woman's leg; after all, he knew all along.

"...Seven..." Li Shang whispered. "How could I have not seen this?"

"Never before had there been a betrayal as terrible as this!!" Chi Fu wailed. "Soldiers!! Kill them!! Kill them now!!"

"Okay, that's it," Ken growled as he and our other male friends stepped in front of. "Chi Fu, if you don't stop your whining, I'm going to break every bone in your sissy body! I'm really tired of you."

"What was that??" the man growled. "I suppose you're a woman, too!"

"I'm not a woman, but, unlike you, I actually respect them and freaking thank them for their help!"

"We don't want to fight against you, guys, but if you insist on harming our friends, then we'll have no choice but to battle all of you," Ryu warned. "And for my part, I won't hold back."

"You all knew they were women?" asked Li Shang.

"Of course we knew," Ryoga said. "And what's so wrong with that?"

"Really, having girls help us out isn't really that bad, you know," Ranma added.

"Li Shang, you must understand," said Wilheim, removing his helmet and walking toward the captain. "These women are our good friends. Some of them are even more than that," he added and put his hand on Kuonji's shoulder. "They fought for us; they risked their lives, and defeated the evil that haunted the mountain. Their courage is admirable. Do you seriously believe that killing them is a proper way to reward their invaluable help? And you..." he said, addressing Chi Fu. "You call them 'creatures' and claim they have no honor. Foolish man: their nobility and their skill are beyond your limited intelligence."

"How dare you insult me like that??" Chi Fu cried and quickly walked toward Wilheim. "I should have your head for that remark, idiotic b—" but before he could finish, our friend unsheathed his blade with blinding speed and placed it on Chi Fu's throat. The soldiers put themselves on guard and Li Shang reached for his sword.

"I am not finished," Wilheim growled. "These women saved your pitiful live, and still you wish them dead. That is the real betrayal here." And with that said, he pushed him away. Again, he spoke to Li Shang. "You and I know that they deserve our respect and our gratitude, captain. Please keep an open mind about this matter."

At this point, Li Shang had stopped being amazed and looked rather pissed. He remained still and thoughtful for a while before unsheathing his sword and then throwing it at Mulan's side. "You saved my life," he grumbled. "We're even now." Then, he turned to the army and ordered: "Let's get out of here."

Chi Fu ran to him and again tried to persuade him to kill us, traitors. "You know what the code is, captain!" he barked. "You have to k—!"

"I said 'let's go'!" Li Shang yelled back, shutting him up at long last. The army began to mobilize away from us. We received mostly surprised glances... but Yao, Ling, and Chien Po seemed quite sad. At least I could say I saw a bit of sympathy. Yet the captain simply turned to our friends and said: "Stay here if you wish." But he didn't even look at us, girls.

"I cannot believe this," Wilheim murmured. "How can you be so obtuse?" He had spoken for all of us. Yet Li Shang chose to say nothing. He didn't even stop his march.

And so the army left us there, by the freezing mountain side. Mulan remained laying on the snow, her face filled by shame and sorrow. With a sigh, I walked to her and got on my knees.

"Are you okay?" I said gently and helped her up. She looked at me and gave me a sad smile.

"I'm fine," she said. "Thank you... thank you all, for helping me in everything. I'll make it up for you somehow."

"Hey, that's what we're here for," Ken said cheeringly. "It's getting pretty dark... Let's build up some other tents and make a fire before we freeze to death."

_(Change of scene)_

"I don't know what I'll say to my father when I come back home," Mulan murmured sadly. "I've dishonored my entire family forever. I'm a disgrace."

"Ah, don't worry about it. You're not the only one," Mushu sighed. "You know, I'm not really the greatest guardian of the family. Actually, I'm more like that wake-up clock. My job is to yell 'rise and shine' every morning. I'm a phony... I whish I could've been a better dragon so I could've helped you more."

"I can't believe what you're saying, guys," Akane said. "You two did a great job. There's no shame in that. Really, the only ones here who should feel dishonored are Li Shang, that idiot Chi Fu, and their whole gang of thugs. I mean, I know it's the law and all, but they really should considering making this an exception."

"They should," Ryu agreed. "Don't allow them to make you feel bad, Mulan. I'm sure that your father would be proud of you, should you choose to tell him what you've done."

"I'm not sure," Mulan murmured, trying to smile. "My father is very conservative, too. I really don't know what he's thinking right now. Well..." she paused for a moment and looked to the sky. "As long as he's okay, it'll all been well worth it."

"Mulan, that's what any father would want in their child: a noble, righteous, and brave woman like you is a blessing, believe me."

"You know what really pisses me off?" Felicia intervened. "Those jerks left just like that, without even thinking about this little boy. Just because they got bested by a bunch of girls they go into a stupid tantrum and forsake all that's really important." At that moment, Ken handed her a blanket so she could cover the kid, who was almost blue from the cold. The cat-woman wrapped him with the blanket, drew him closer to the fire and rubbed his shoulders. "It's okay, sweetie. You'll warm up in no time. I'll be okay: I'm cold-proof."

"Easy for you to say, with all that fur covering your body," Sakura muttered. "We really should leave this place and return to the city where you guys bought the uniforms."

"That's not a good idea right now," Baiken said. "If we move from here now, we'll end up like popsicles. Our best option is not to move our asses from here and wait it out. Things should be better in the morning."

"Yeah... you're probably right."

"You know, I'm surprised that we beat the Heartless so easily," Kuonji said. "I guess that their major force where the Huns, because we kicked those monsters' butts rather quickly."

"Well, Ukyo, you have to consider that we have three very good fighters in the team now," Ken declared.

"That we do."

"If it is of any help, Mulan, we will personally tell your father about your heroic deeds," Wilheim offered. "I believe that it would be better if he heard all of this from us than from those narrow-minded soldiers."

"Thanks, but I don't want to get you into trouble," she sighed. "Either way, I'm really thankful to you all for all your help. And you too, Mushu," she added, glancing at the little dragon, who smiled faintly and sighed.

"Well, I'm glad you think I helped," he replied.

"You know guys, as screwed up as things are, there is always a bright side," Ryoga claimed as he approached a nearby cliff (not the one that had nearly become my grave) and looked down. "The view is amazing from here. You can see the fields, rivers, and—what the hell?!" he suddenly exclaimed, taking a step back.

"What? What's wrong?" we asked and hastily went to his side.

"Down there! Look!" he said, this time as softly as he could.

We looked down the cliff and gasped in horrified awe. There he was, looking at the city beyond the valley as if the raging sea of snow hadn't even touched him. And beside him, stood many of his soldiers, weapons in hand, hatred in their eyes. Silently, Shan Yu and his remaining men began their march to the metropolis. And as they got away, we noticed a new army of Heartless join them and advanced alongside them.

"...Holy shit," Baiken murmured. "How the freaking hell could he had survived that fucking fall?" Though she had been as vulgar as always, she had nonetheless expressed the feelings of us all.

"Baiken! The kid!" Felicia meowed in a low voice.

"Those goddamn Huns are still alive and you're worried about my fucking language??" she replied, exasperated. Yet she then noticed the scared little boy and let out a sigh. "Sorry, kid. It's not against you, boy."

"Dear Lord..." Mulan said. "How... how could they have survived?"

"I guess that's the real question, isn't it?" muttered Ranma, still shocked by that horrible sight.

"I... I have to go and warn the city!" Mulan exclaimed. "Mushu, lend me a hand!"

"What are you talking about??" the little dragon replied. "Didn't you see how those Huns simply got up and began to walk? They sprouted from the snow like daisies!!"

"Just a moment, sister," Baiken intervened. "You're actually telling me that you're going to help those jerks after the way they treated you?"

"It's not about Li Shang and the others," Mulan answered as she began to load her horse with her gear. "It's about the entire city! I can't just sit here and let the Huns ravage it to the ground because the troops are all sore at me!"

"Yeah, but let's return to the part where the Huns are invincible!" Mushu cried. "We can't stand a chance against them!"

"What's wrong? Are you scared, Mushu?" she asked, smiling mockingly.

The little dragon remained still for a few seconds and then he drew an impish grin upon his lips. "Yeah, you're right," he chuckled. "Let's go kick some Hun's butts!"

"That's the Mushu I like!" Mulan giggled and got on her horse. "Listen..." she added, referring to us. "You don't have to help me this time, if you don't want to. I can't ask you to put your lives in danger again."

"Do you really think I'm afraid of those goons?" I asked, cracking my knuckles. "And do you really think I'm going to let you go after them by yourself? You're good, but you're not me. Oh, I'm helping you out on this one, believe me."

"Thank you, Jam," Mulan replied, with a smile.

"'You're not me'? You really are full of yourself, Marmalade Jam," Baiken grumbled. "Whatever. Either way, I'm in, too. I said I'd make those guys pay for what they did, and I stand by that. Time to make what's left of their lives a living hell."

"See, Mulan? Baiken can be a gentleman sometimes," I scoffed.

"¨Piss off."

"We're all in this," Kuonji declared. "The Heartless are our enemies and we came here to take them out. Even if they weren't here, we can't let the Huns keep wreaking havoc. Even if we interfere with Donald's famous 'world order'. See how I care about that."

"We will all help you, Mulan, make no mistake about that," Wilheim added. "Yet I suggest we stop speaking and make haste. The Huns will reach the city shortly: we have to catch up with them."

"Well, we left five minutes ago!" Ken yelled enthusiastically. "They're going to regret the day they pissed Ken Masters off!"

_(Change of scene)_

When we got to the city, we expected to find the soldiers and the militia battling the Huns. By the look of things, however, it seemed we had arrived sooner, thankfully, because everyone was celebrating China's victory over the enemy. The Imperial Army was proudly parading through the streets, with Li Shang at its head. The crowd assembled about them, cheering for them, burning fireworks, and thanking them for their courage. As if they had done all the work...

Well, anyway, there were no Huns on sight, which was a good thing. We mingled in the crowd (which turned out to be quite a relief, since our butts were half-frozen from that terrible journey down the icy mountain), while Mulan caught up with them on her horse. We hoped they would at least have the decency to turn to look at us. We were no longer wearing the uniforms, so it was pretty clear we were women.

We made our way through the people as best as we could and reached the army. They gave us just one quick, surprised glance and then they looked away. That made me want to beat them to a pulp, but now wasn't the time for that. Mulan passed through them hastily and soon reached Li Shang. I saw that she began to talk to him, her face filled by concern, yet the captain's head remained still, his eyes to the front.

"How much of a jerk can you be?" Akane grumbled.

"Quiet, let me listen," I murmured. I have very good hearing and as soon as Akane became silent, I managed to discern a bit of their conversation... yes: Li Shang actually answered back.

"Why should I believe you?" he questioned.

"Why would I lie to you about such matters? Besides, you trusted Ping. Why should Mulan be any different?" she replied.

"You tell me."

"In that case, do whatever you want. I'm not going to sit here idly and let something terrible happen." And with that said, she turned her horse around and trotted back to our side. "He won't listen to me."

"I barely heard that," I sighed. "Yeah, it seems we won't be counting with the heroes' help anytime soon."

"We should go to the palace and remain on our guards," Mulan suggested. "It's near here. Let's just follow the parade and remain close to the people... but mostly, we have to look after the Emperor."

"Yeah, you're right," Sakura said. "I bet he's the one they're after. Although there aren't many of them left, and the whole Imperial army if here."

"It doesn't take that many men to take a hold of one person," Ryu said. "Besides, they'll catch the Imperial Army's soldiers by surprise. They won't believe a word Mulan says."

"Then let's get going already," I intervened. "They'll catch the soldiers with their pants down, but that won't happen to us."

And so we made our way through the crowd as quickly as we could. Even though I didn't look like it, I was very worried about the people on the streets. Mostly, though, I was very concerned about the little boy. All this time, Felicia had been carrying him around. He hadn't been much of a problem, because so far we hadn't encountered any opponents. Nevertheless, we were about to face the Huns and the Heartless once more and panic would surely strike the townsfolk. Only God knew what would happen then...

Moments later, we made it to the palace. I had always been fascinated by the historical ruins of my country. Now imagine what I felt like the moment I saw a palace that represented the glory of the days of old. The walls, stones, statues, and tiles were all in perfect state, and shone of a red color bathed in the lights of the festivity lamps. It was truly a happy celebration in a spectacular place. Too bad the Huns were about... rather than enjoying the lovely scenery, we had to keep our eyes peeled.

The palace's courtyard was riddled with people. It took us a while to get through the crowd and actually go up the stairs, to the place where the Emperor would make his appearance. Li Shang left the rest of the soldiers behind him as a huge dragon puppet filled with people began to parade at his back. They reached the top of the stairs and Li Shang kneeled, bowing his head, as the Emperor finally made his way out of the castle. The entire townsfolk fell on their knees and bowed their heads. We also revered the monarch, but kept our eyes fixed on the night. Our foes could appear at any moment and we had to be ready for them.

The Emperor exchanged some words with the captain. I really didn't pay that much attention to their conversation, since I was more preoccupied about the Heartless and the Huns. I did, however, hear the Emperor tell Li Shang that he was sorry for the death of his father. Li Shang nodded solemnly and as a reply, he offered him Shan Yu's sword (which he had probably recovered from the snow on his way to the city, when he and the other soldiers had left us behind).

At that very moment, a dark eagle swooped down from the nocturne sky and snatched the blade from Li Shang's hands. It flew to the palace's roof and let the sword drop right into a hand... Shan Yu's hand. The Hun smiled evilly and leaped down, right beside the emperor.

"What a marvelous celebration," he snarled in a low, menacing voice. "Do you mind if we join the party?"

Overtaken by surprise, Li Shang was unable to protect the Emperor from being captured by the Hun warriors who got rid of their disguise as Shan Yu finished speaking: they had been hiding within the puppet dragon all along. Not even we were expecting that.

It all happened too fast... The crowd began to cry in horror and to run like wild animals away from the palace. Panic was doing its job, as I had suspected. We remained firm and tried to engage the Huns, but we were too late. Shan Yu and his men locked themselves inside the palace, holding the Emperor hostage. And just then, the hordes of Heartless appeared before us and attacked.

Though there were a lot more Heartless this time around, the battle lasted even less than the last one. I suppose that this was because this time, the soldiers were a lot more aggressive, for their ruler's life was at stake, as was their honor as royal guards. For our part, I think that we, the women, fought better this time. I don't know exactly why... my guess was that we wanted to really show the Imperial Army what they had turned down. And if that was the case, then we did a pretty damn good job.

One of the Heartless knocked Wilheim's sword from his hands, but Kuonji hastily caught it. She then slid her giant spatula across the ground, letting it reach Wilheim's feet in a second. The boy began to swing her weapon as if it were a giant battle ax, killing two or three Heartless at a time with each blow. Amazingly, though, Kuonji had become a real slaughtering machine. Will's sword had increased her power tenfold and had turned her into a monster. I swear to you that, if I had faced the Kuonji that now fought against the Heartless, she would've surely beaten me to a pulp... not only because she was stronger, but because she knew her way around Will's blade extremely well. Of course, that would be cheating, but it didn't really matter now that we were fighting the Heartless.

While her blows weren't as brutal as Wilheim's, she was quick enough to kill two times the Heartless the young man took out with each swing in the same amount of time. Akane's fist had acquired an amazing strength and she could easily now punch her way through a row of foes. Sakura unleashed her energy in the form of many powerful blasts, destroying many a Heartless with each blast. Once again, Felicia remained close to the kid, yet the foes that dared come near here were torn apart by her furious claws and her nimble attacks. Baiken was, as always, relentless. Her strength was fueled by her anger, and this showed in every attack that she dished out. She was the best sword swinger around, no doubt about that. Mulan had become an expert warrior: her movements had the grace of a swan and her attacks were as certain as the ones of a venomous snake. As for me, I was using most of my Ki during that fight, meaning that the Heartless didn't last more than two seconds when they faced me.

One after the other, they fell like domino pieces. Theirs was a pathetic attempt to thwart our anger. And no matter what happened, the Huns were next, although, of course, things would turn out much better if we would save the Emperor.

The army gathered about the main door to the palace and tried to bring it down with all their might, not to avail. No sword was solid enough to cut through that sturdy gate. We went by their side and Wilheim quickly pushed the soldiers back.

"Leave this to me," he said, taking his sword from Ukyo's hands and giving her back her spatula. "There is no thing Renamark cannot cut through!" And with that said, he swung his blade at the gate. But before his steel could even touch the door, an explosion of invisible energy sent him flying back.

"Wilheim!" Kuonji yelled in horror and ran to his side. "Are you okay??"

"I'm all right," he replied, shaking his head and getting up. "Blast! What the blazes just happened??"

But before any of us could answer him, a wall of literally solid flame rose from the ground and burned fiercely between the gate and us. The heat was so intense that it drove us away from the entrance to the palace. Apparently, Shan Yu had more tricks up his sleeve than we thought.

"Damn it!" Ken cried. "Now what do we do?"

"We'll have to find another entrance," Mulan said.

"Mulan!" suddenly shouted Yao, as he, Ling, and Chien Po ran towards our friend. "There's another way to get into the castle. There's another entrance on the first floor! But we can't reach it! We don't have any ladders!"

"Oh, so you're speaking with us now?" I intervened. I know that wasn't the time to be nagging them... but they deserved it, and you know it. "I thought you weren't talking to us: men aren't supposed to be exchanging words with creatures as detestable as women, should they?"

"We... I..." he muttered, lowering his head. All of the soldiers looked ashamed. None of them could see us in the eyes. I assure you that if the Emperor's live wasn't at risk, I would've given them the longest guilt trip they could've ever imagined. Macho jackasses...

"We're sorry," Li Shang intervened, walking toward us. "We were wrong about you. I swear on my father's sword that I will do anything to make it up to you. But right now, please help us rescue the Emperor!"

"Getting up there isn't as hard as it looks," Mulan assured, as she eyed a group of concubines that was fleeing the castle. "The difficult part will be to get past the Huns. We have to get to Shan Yu without alerting the warriors, or he could kill the Emperor... Wait here; I have an idea. Jam, come with me."

"Okay," I said and followed her as she quickly intercepted the concubines.

"Excuse me ladies, but this is an emergency," she said. "I need you to give me dresses and make-up right now."

"Dresses and make-up?" I muttered. I suppose it's safe to say that I was just as baffled as the other girls. "What the devil are you thinking about, Mulan?"

My companion turned to me as the concubines began to hand them some pieces of clothing (not the ones they were wearing, of course) and a bit of make up and smiled mischievously. "Payback," she whispered.

_(Change of scene)_

Ten minutes later we had effectively disguised our male friends (and ourselves) as women. Despite the situation, I'd never seen anything so funny in my entire life. Not just because the guys looked so unbelievably hilarious in dresses and with make-up, but because they were also making such a big fuss... except for Ranma, who had fetched some cold water, had poured it on himself, and had turned into a girl. Confused? I sure as hell was. He claimed it was because of a curse or something... Baiken, Mulan, and I were completely perplexed by the change. However, it seemed that the others already knew.

Whatever the case was, he (well... she) was the only one who wasn't winning like a baby... Although now that I think about it, Yao, Ling, and Chien Po, who had also been forced to wear women's clothes, were taking things much more maturely.

"Damn it!" Ryoga growled. "I've never felt so stupid in my entire life!"

"Now you know what I've been feeling all these years," Ranma said.

"What the hell are you talking about? You're a girl! You can't feel stupid! This is stupid!" he exclaimed, pointing at himself.

"I bet you're all enjoying yourselves like there's no tomorrow, huh?" Ryu grumbled. Upon seeing them so vexed, Mulan and I couldn't help but to giggle. I bet that if the situation were any different, we would've laughed our heads off. Baiken only limited herself to smiling.

Actually, Ryoga and Ling looked silly, but Yao, Chien Po, Ryu, Ken, and Wilheim were pathetically ridiculous. This was because Ryoga and Ling were slim; they didn't look that bad in their dresses, especially Ryoga, who was much more athletic. But the other five were really sad excuses of transvestites. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the sight of Yao and Chien Po's bellies, and Ryu, Ken, and Wilheim were so big that they could barely fit in the clothes we had given them.

"Well, I guess I should look on the bright side," Ken sighed. "At least I don't look as feminine as Wilheim. He's got the longest hair."

"It is not much longer than yours, Masters," Wilheim snarled. "And, either way, I do not dye mine."

"...That's a low blow, Willie."

Right then, Sakura, who had a cell-phone, hastily took it out and took a quick picture of the guys without Mulan or any of the other soldiers noticing it.

"What the hell was that??" Ranma exclaimed.

"Just a little something to remember how cute you guys looked!" she giggled.

"Give me that thing!" Wilheim growled and tried to snatch it from the girl's hand. She quickly put it back into her pocket and stepped away from the angry lad. He remained still for a few seconds and then muttered: "We did not take you any pictures while you were wearing those uniforms, cheater."

"That's your problem, not mine."

"How about you guys stop jerking around and we save the fucking Emperor— excuse me; the Emperor," Baiken said.

"That could very well be considered a blasphemy in these lands, you know," Kuonji teased.

"Put a sock in it," she replied, giving her a smirk. She sure was Baiken's pet: if it would've been me, her reply wouldn't have been as nice. But that's just stating the obvious.

"Okay, this is the plan," Mulan announced. "We climb up the wall and enter the palace, pretending to be concubines. The moment they drop their guards, we smack them down and hurry to the Emperor's chamber to save him."

"How do we know he's not already dead?" Yao asked with concern.

"Because we would already know," Li Shang said. "The Huns want to take over China or humiliate it. They will make us watch them kill our Lord, should we fail to rescue him. So let's get going and stop them!"

"All right, it's time to start," Felicia said. Then, she held the little boy's hand and handed him over to a soldier who wasn't going to accompany us... "Listen, honey," she murmured softly to the child. "I'm going to go with the guys to help the Emperor. I want you to stay right here: you'll be safe. I promise I'll be back. Okay?" the little kid nodded silently to her words. Then, she turned to the man and said: "Protect this boy with your life, or you'll answer me with yours, go it?" and the soldier nodded frantically, taking a big gulp. I never thought I'd hear that kitty say anything like that...

"Okay, let's climb this thing and get this over with," Kuonji pressed.

We then all grabbed a long piece of cloth and used it to climb by the pillars on the sides of the castle. The guys were having a really hard time, since they weren't used to their dresses yet. They looked very funny. And poor Willie was the last horse to make it to the finish line... I had to tease him a bit.

"Come on, it's not like that dress is going to kill you, Wilhelmina," I mocked. This time, even Kuonji and Baiken roared in laughter.

"Since I am a gentleman, I will shun that comment, and make no further retorts... Marmalade Jam," Wilheim replied. He tried to sound mad, but I honestly believe he was actually acquiring a sense of humor. Besides, when Baiken called me that, it was annoying. Willie just made it sound cute.

"Guys, quiet," Mulan whispered. "We're almost there."

We reached the first floor. Li Shang discretely made his way through a contiguous corridor as we began to stroll through the castle, trying to look as pretty as possible.

"Okay, no more goofing around," Akane muttered. "We've got to be serious now."

"Try to be as adorable as possible, everyone," Felicia whispered.

"'Adorable'..." Ken snorted. "As a man I'm adorable. As... This, I'm detestable. This completely ruins my style! Jeez... We have to make a pact right now, girls: you don't tell any of our friends that we dressed up as women and we won't say a word about you pretending to be soldiers."

"Do you really think we give a rat's ass about dressing up like men?" Baiken said. "You've got nothing on us. Either way, for the moment, be quiet. I also have a hard time being adorable."

"Amen to that," I muttered with a giggle.

"Jam, how about you have a nice, big, hot cup of shut the fuck up?" she whispered back in anger, making me laugh even more.

"Guys—I mean, girls, some Huns dead ahead. Time to shine," warned Yao with a chuckle.

With that said, the guys started to try to walk as sensually as they could – a sad spectacle, no doubt. There were a little more than a dozen of them. Beating them would be a piece of cake... the catch was doing it quietly. One sound coming from their mouths, and the Emperor would be dead. Taking this into account, we approached them slowly, seductively... One of them noticed us and pointed his lance at us. Yet before he could make another move, his companion held him by the arm and said: "Easy. They're just a bunch of concubines."

Yao, Ling, and Chien Po began to chuckle uncontrollably. Luckily, they tried to sound as womanly as they could, so that wasn't much of a problem. Still, that didn't keep the guard from muttering: "Horrible concubines... at least the ones on the right." You can guess who the ones standing on said side were.

Nevertheless, men are men, and soon the Huns began to surround us with not-so-good intentions...

"Well, what are you pretty girls doing here?" asked one of them, lowering the tone of his voice as he caressed Ryoga's arm with his finger. I swear that boy was about to cry.

"Oh, um... we were just passing. We were curious about the Huns," Ling replied, between chuckles.

"You don't say..."

"Hello, my pretty, pretty, pretty," hummed one of them, grabbing me by the shoulders... Now things weren't so fun anymore. "Tell me: do you want to find out why the Huns are considered so powerful?"

Despite the fact that that pick-up line deserved at least a kick in the nuts, I remained firm and winked sensually. "That's something I'm looking quite forward to," I forced myself to answer.

"Tell me, love," said another one, approaching poor Willie. "What say you we get to somewhere quiet and have a bit of fun?"

"How dare you...?!" cried Wilheim with his manly voice. Naturally, Kuonji kicked him silently and so he came back to his senses and tried to make his voice as appealing as he could. "...ask me that in front of all my girlfriends, you wicked boy? I am so very shy: I blush easily."

"That's not hard to notice, love," murmured the Hun and curled one of his fingers on his hair. I could see in his eyes that he wanted to tear that guy's head off. The rest of us were busier trying to keep from laughing at the sight of this and of the rest of the guys being sexually harassed by those animals.

As we kept the Huns attention fixed upon us, we suddenly noticed how Li Shang appeared from the other side of the room and silently crept into the Emperor's chamber. Our foes didn't notice this at all, luckily: they were too occupied trying to conquer us.

Moments later, we heard a loud roar. It had been Shan Yu.

"GET BACK OVER HERE, LITTLE MAN!!"

The Huns immediately turned around and got ready to unsheathe their swords. It was now or never.

Baiken withdrew her katana and hit the Hun next to her on the back of his head with the hilt, instantly leaving him unconscious. Mulan grasped the arm of another soldier and slammed him against the ground. Sakura and Felicia each grabbed a foe by their shirt and slammed their heads against each other. Akane tripped her adversary and delivered a fierce chop to his chest once he was on the ground. Kuonji and I involuntarily did a bit of teamwork: she punched the lights out of the enemy that had his paws on me while I delivered a most powerful kick to the Hun next to her. Yao threw an uppercut at his opponent's jaw; Ling kicked his on the stomach and then head-butted him into unconsciousness, and Chien Po threw his adversary across the room with the greatest ease. Our other male friends were not so gentle... Ryu and Ken both used neck chops to knock their opponents out; Ranma and Ryoga slammed the Hun's heads against the ground with great fury, while Wilheim grabbed his opponent by the neck and elbowed him repeatedly until he was out. Not one of them managed to make one noise.

"I think you overreacted a bit, Wilheim," Akane muttered in a low voice.

"Yes, maybe I did, but he deserved it nonetheless," he replied, taking off the dress and make-up. "'I blush easily'... What in the bloody hell was I thinking??" he grumbled.

"Let's help Li Shang!" exclaimed Mulan. But before we could go far, a new army of Heartless emerged from the walls.

"Don't these things ever die??" Baiken roared, putting herself on guard.

"We'll keep them at bay!" Ryu exclaimed. He then turned to Mulan and me and added: "You two go help Li Shang!"

There was no time to argue. Mulan and I nodded and quickly took off our dresses (the concubines' clothes... of course we didn't end up naked. I know what sort of thoughts dwell in your wicked minds, boys) and entered the Emperor's chamber, ready to rage. And we got there just in time: Shan Yu had Li Shang pinned against the ground and was about to cut him in half. The good news was that the Emperor was nowhere near us: it seemed that Li Shang had managed to send him to the courtyard, where the army and the villagers had formed a defensive circle around him. But the young captain's situation was looking quite grim.

Mulan hastily stepped forth and with a swift movement, hit Shan Yu on the stomach, pushing him away from Li Shang. The leader of the Huns looked at us with rage and growled as he pointed his sharp sword at us.

"Dare you defy me, weaklings?!" he growled. "Then you shall meet you end like miserable pups under the edge of my blade!"

"We beat you once, Shan Yu: we're certainly capable of doing it again!" I exclaimed.

"What??"

"Don't you remember?" Mulan said and grasped her long hair so that it would look the way she had it when she was still pretending to be a man. Shan Yu instantly realized that we were the adversaries that had cost him victory on the snowy mountain.

"The snow warriors..." he muttered, completely taken aback by this revelation. Yet his eyes were soon filled by anger as he rushed at Mulan and tried to cut her head off. She skillfully rolled under him and attempted to strike his back with her sword. But the leader of the Huns parried the blow with frightening ease and pushed Mulan back. I caught her before she could get really hurt. At that moment, Li Shang stood up and wiped a trail of blood that came from his mouth.

"Li Shang, go help the Emperor," Mulan said. "Make sure he's safe."

"I can't leave you two..." Li Shang replied in a low voice. Wow... I never expected to see that the young captain was concerned for our safety.

"We'll be fine," I assured. "Just watch me go!" Just after saying this, I leapt high into the air and dived at Shan Yu, kicking him repeatedly while airborne. My opponent managed to block most of my blows and the ones that did connect didn't hurt him much... It seems he was much stronger than I actually thought. Once I landed, I made a split, for Shan Yu immediately tried to cut my neck. As soon as the blow missed me, I kicked his legs, making him lose his balance. Before he could recover, I stood up and gave him a powerful combination of punches and kicks, finishing with a Ki-charged back-fist to his face.

"HYAPPO SHINSHOU!!" I roared as I knocked him against a pillar. It could've ended right there, if the column hadn't gotten in the way: otherwise, I would've knocked him off the roof. But since that wasn't the case, I quickly put myself back on guard and waited for our enemy to attack again.

"Amazing..." mumbled both Li Shang and Mulan. Well, what can I say? They sure got that right.

"You damn bitch!!" Shan Yu howled as he got back on his feet and spat a bit of blood. "You'll pay for that!"

"All I hear is talk and no action!" I challenged. "If you want a piece of me, come and get me!"

Our foe charged with the strength of a rhinoceros. Seeing that I would be unable to stop him with a blow, I chose to leap over him. However, this time Shan Yu outsmarted me. As I passed over his head, he grabbed my ankle and swung me against the ground with fury. The stony floor broke under my weight and I was left out of air. Shan Yu then raised his sword over his head and prepared to impale me. But just then, Mulan stood before him and parried his attack with her sword. She stopped his attack, yet she was unable to keep him still for too long. The Hun hit her on the face and then kicked her away, only to get ready to try to kill me again. Luckily, I had already recovered my breath. I stopped his hand with my foot and immediately got up. With blinding speed, I got behind him and delivered another nasty combination, this time finishing with a low kick to his feet, followed by a spiral kick to his face and then the Coupe de Grace: a terrible attack with a flaming leg which smashed him against the ground.

But just as he fell down, he swung his sword at my face with mad fury. I stepped back just in time and avoided death. Nevertheless, he did cut my cheek, only if barely. I leaped right beside Jam and wiped the blood that came from the little, yet stinging wound.

"Now I'm angry!" I cried. "You're in for it now, Shan Yu!"

"Jam, can we beat him?" Mulan whispered as she helped a very weak Li Shang to his feet.

"I can't be sure," I admitted. "I've hit him with all my strength over twenty times and he barely has a bruise in his body!"

"Whatever the case, we have to get him away from Li Shang!" Mulan said. "Come on, follow me!" And so she immediately picked up one rock from the broken floor and threw it a Shan Yu's head, making him take a few steps back, and fueling his hatred. Mulan quickly leapt to one of the outer columns and made her way to the very top of the castle. I did as she told me to and went after her. Shan Yu's anger toward us was so great that he forgot all about Li Shang and chased after us like a bear with nothing else on its mind but slaughter. Once on the top, the enemy caught up with us, and before we could react properly, he swung his fist with immense power at our jaws, knocking us both to the ground. I really didn't know where the hell he got all his strength from: it had been quite a while since anyone had hit me that hard.

Nevertheless, we quickly rose to our feet. There would be no interventions this time, or anyone to look after. It was just him and us.

"You wretched girls cost me victory," he snarled. "But I will not leave without a consolation prize... I will have both of your heads and will drink your blood from them."

"You first have to kill us for that to happen," I answered. "It seems to me that you're forgetting who you're dealing with."

"Oh, I've all but forgotten," he mused. "That's why I'm really going to enjoy this!" And so he leapt high into the air and raised his sword over his head, only to bring it down a second later upon us. Mulan and I moved on opposite directions, freeing ourselves from the killing blow. However, Shan Yu unleashed a most powerful kick to my stomach before I could move. I rolled back and just barely managed to hang from the roof's edge. I was out of air, so it took me a few seconds to recover and climb back up. Once I returned to the field of battle, I noticed that Mulan could barely fend off Shan Yu: he had her cornered and was about to throw her off the roof. Suddenly, he managed to take a hold of her and head-butted her. My friend fell on the ground, dizzied by the terrible blow, unable to fight for a split of second. Before Shan Yu could finish her, I dashed at him as quickly as I could.

The enemy was expecting me: he turned to me and smiled evilly, aiming his sword at my stomach. Yet, once again, I was quicker than he, and moved to his back. That being done, I delivered yet another combination of punches and kicks. He really liked to swallow my attacks (but he could sure as hell withstand them). During that time, Mulan got up and executed a flying kick aimed at Shan Yu's face, followed by many more attacks. She tried to stab him with her sword lots of times, but the damned bastard was skilled enough to avoid getting cut.

Seeing that Shan Yu wasn't going to let us bury a steel in his skin, I decided to throw him off the roof. I quickly grabbed him and used my legs to propel him away from us. But the Hun got a hold of the edge of the roof: he managed to stay on the battlefield.

"Damn it," I muttered. "He's too heavy! I guess we'll just have to keep battering him until he gives up... Now I know what George Foreman felt like when he fought Mohammed Ali. No one's ever managed to take so many blows from me before without at least appearing hurt!"

"We're going to have to outsmart him, then," Mulan murmured. "I think that our only chance is, indeed, knocking him off the roof. But to do that, we'll need to... hold on a second!" she unexpectedly exclaimed, pointing at a tower before us.

Who would've thought it? There was Mushu, who had effectively disguised himself as a horrendous, dark creature and had scared some guards away. Now, he had taken hold of the fireworks and was aiming them directly at Shan Yu. Now, all we had to do was keep him still so that he wouldn't miss. We only had one shot...

"Enough of games!!" Shan Yu shouted. "I'll enjoy making you suffer!"

"Maybe in your next life!" I exclaimed and dodged him as he ran at me and swung his sword furiously.

Just as he brought his steel down upon my head, I grasped his blade with my bare hands. I was, however, unable to stop fully stop his blow, and he managed to slightly cut my forehead. As he saw a trail of blood run down my nose, he grinned viciously. But then, Mulan kicked Shan Yu's hands, knocking his sword off of them. She then caught it and buried it on the roof, trapping Shan Yu's cape.

"Now you'll pay for all the harm you've done to China!" she cried. "Mushu, now!!"

Upon hearing her call, the little dragon lit the fuse of the explosives and they flew at Shan Yu with the power of ten cannonballs. Mulan and I escaped barely in time, while the Hun desperately tried to free himself from his own blade, not to avail. The rockets crashed against our foe, sending his sorry, yelling butt right against another tower, exploding into a spectacle of lights that literally cheered the grim night.

Mulan and I had landed on a balcony on the floor below and were still working on catching our breaths. That had been too close. But, by the looks of it, we had won the battle: the rest of our friends had apparently already defeated the entire army of Heartless.

"...Well, it seems that your lizard guardian can do something," I murmured softly. Mulan remained quiet for a few moments and then laughed joyfully and relieved.

"Yes... who would've thought it? Mushu saved the day," she said. She glanced at the tower and at the roof and let out a sigh. "I very much doubt that the Emperor will like this a bit..."

"He better be grateful to us for saving his life," I said. "I don't want to get into another argument of the sort..."

"Me neither. Well, let's get out of here. It seems that the Emperor is safe... Look, he's right there, next to Li Shang. Let's go."

_(Change of scene)_

As we reunited with our friends and exited the palace, we saw that the Emperor was expecting us... and he didn't look the least happy. Well, at least the men had taken off the dresses.

"Women of the Imperial Army!" he shouted. "I demand you come here this instant!"

"Oh, shit..." Baiken grumbled in a low voice. Once again, she had spoken for all of us.

"Sire, please, I can explain..." Li Shang hastily said, approaching the Emperor. Well, that was unexpected... the young captain actually wanted to stick out his neck for us.

"There is nothing to explain, captain," intervened Chi Fu, who had crawled out from the crowd like a cockroach and faced him with a defiant air. "These creatures have betrayed our country! They deserve death!"

"Death?!" Li Shang roared. "You must be joking! They're all heroines! You should be more respectful to them!" Finally, a bit of recognition...

"Stand down, captain," the Emperor commanded as he walked toward us. End of the discussion.

None of us said a word as we stood in front of the Emperor and waited for him to keep on talking; not even Baiken. If it would've been any other man, we would've found our voices right away, but... well, to sum things up: the Emperor is the Emperor.

"You have all infiltrated my troops, pretending to be men!" he scolded. Not a good beginning. Horrible Chi Fu grinned with satisfaction as he saw us so worried. "You have fooled your captain! You destroyed my palace! And...!" he paused for a moment as I gave a quick glance to the roof and the tower that Shan Yu had been blown off to. Indeed, we had made quite the mess... Yet as the Emperor spoke again, his voice became soft and his face was filled by calm. "You have saved us all." Well, I sure as hell wasn't expecting that, nor were any of my companions.

But more amazing still was the fact that he, the Emperor, the ruler of the country, a Deity on Earth, bowed his head before us. I don't think there could be any greater honor than that. Upon seeing this, that coward Chi Fu immediately fell on his knees and bowed before us. I'd never felt a greater deal of satisfaction than at that moment.

Of course, Chi Fu wasn't the only one who knelt. All of the people who were watching us fell on their knees silently. Li Shang and our friends knelt before us, too. That was really incredible. With that horrible man, I just had that "take that" feeling... I'm sure you know what I mean. But as I saw all of those people bow, thankful to us for saving their country, I felt a warmth inside like never before. I was moved... I couldn't help but to draw a happy smile upon my face. My companions smiled too, except for Baiken, but even then, I noticed that she was at peace. And so, we bowed back.

"You have all fought with strength and with courage worthy of legendary warriors: you defended China with the might of a God Dragon. We are all in your debt. Is there any way we could repay our greatest guardians?" Some one had to answer him, and it wasn't going to be me: I was still too shocked.

"Um... we are very, very honored, your Highness," Kuonji said. "But, we won't stay here for very long... we have other places to visit... Yet Mulan will remain here, and she is the true heroine here: this was all her idea."

"Well, I..." muttered a bashful Mulan, but the Emperor hastily spoke, interrupting her.

"My daughter, if this is true, then I would be honored if you could be one of my advisors. What do you think about that, Chi Fu?"

"Oh! Well, I..." murmured the piece of hideousness. "But, there are no more available jobs of the sort, your highness," he said while grinning.

"Very well, then. You will take his position," said the Emperor to Mulan.

"What?? Oh...!" exclaimed Chi Fu before he actually passed out.

As he lay on the ground and Mulan excused herself before the Emperor, arguing that all she wanted to do was to return home to her father, we stared at the horrible rat, not knowing whether to laugh or puke at his cowardice. The answer to this dilemma came quite quickly, though...

"Hey, Chi Fu, your mother called," Baiken whispered. "She said you left your testicles on your way out of the house."

Thankfully, neither the Emperor nor Mulan listened to that comment. The rest of us, however, were struggling not to burst out in laughter. It would've been horribly embarrassing. But, so far, I think that had been Baiken's most accurate joke.

"Shhh, Baiken!" giggled Felicia, using her tail to tap her back. The woman smiled silently and didn't say another word.

"If that is your wish," said the Emperor. "If you will go back to your father, then take this to him," he added, removing his royal medallion and placing it on Mulan's neck. "Tell him what you have done: tell him that you have made China proud."

Our friend drew on her face a tern, joyful smile, one that would've moved even a demon. With watery eyes, she embraced the Emperor and thanked him in a low voice. Now, that's something I wouldn't have even dreamed about doing. I mean, he was the Emperor! You can't touch the Emperor! He could behead you for contaminating him with your peasant essence! However, this ruler was kind and affable and, rather than sentencing Mulan to death, he smiled too and hugged her back.

"Well, I guess our mission here is half-accomplished," Akane murmured. "There's nothing more we can do here, for the moment. If we want to take out the Heartless permanently, we need Sora."

"Aye to that," Sakura agreed. "I suppose it's time to leave. If the Heartless return, the Imperial Army will surely be able to handle them."

"Does that mean we're out of here?" I asked. "You know... the Heartless are not as terrible as you guys said. I think we took care of them pretty fast. They weren't that much trouble." At that very moment, the little boy, who had been hiding amongst the soldiers, ran up to Felicia and hugged her leg. For the first time ever, I saw him smile. The kitty carried him and kissed his cheek. He then reached to me and touched my shoulder. I was so happy to see the little thing so relieved. I patted his head and kissed him as well. His smile grew bigger... I can't describe how comforted and how glad I was to see him like that.

"We just met," Felicia muttered. "Just you wait. The good thing is that you're both pretty good fighters: that kind of eases things up a bit."

"You mean a lot," I said, with a chuckle.

"Jam, how about that cup I mentioned a while ago?" Baiken growled. Annoying her was getting more and more fun by the minute. And to think that she would soon meet someone who would make look like the best person on the planet on her book...


	7. Chapter 6: Ancient Deities

Hey, guys.

First of all, Happy New Year. I hope you all had a great time :)

Secondly, there are two characters I must disclaim in this chapter: one of them is property of Mr. Kiosce Domingo; the other one is property of Sony Computer Entertainment's Santa Monica division.

Sorry if I took a bit long to upload this chapter, but I enjoyed my vacation :P With that said, I'll soon be returning to school... to the last semester of my Engineering career. By the look of things, this final task won't be as stressing as last time (one can only hope). Either way, I hope to upload chapters more often.

Oh, one last note: during this chapter and the following five-six, there will be multiple narrators. As always, I will let you know who is narrating what part.

Well, without further ado, I hope you enjoy!

_Chapter Six: Ancient Deities_

_Narrator: Leon_

Cid's cigarettes I could stand for a long, long time. One sort of gets used to the pestilence. Felicia's childish games were fun from time to time and she was cute doing them. Camille's lustful words... well, I suppose those weren't unpleasant at all. But Adrian... Dear God, one would have to possess Job's patience to endure him more than half an hour.

Don't get me wrong: Adrian's one hell of a funny guy and he sure knew how to make everybody have a good time. The thing is, he didn't know when to stop. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Siegfried all seemed to be very eternally pleased by his constant jokes and his witty remarks. I could have fun with him for about thirty minutes. After that, he became plain annoying. And what was worse was that he never lost the funny touch, so you couldn't really be mad at him. And, let's face it: it was really amusing to see him piss off Octavius every two seconds.

That said, I imagine that you already know that our journey to the Coliseum wasn't the most pleasant one. I was lucky to stay behind the ship's controls for most of the journey and barely paid attention to the lunatic vampire. But be that as it may, I couldn't get angry, because we had just gotten the news: Wilheim was alive and well.

Now, I admit I'm not the most emotional guy around. I've been accused of being cold and distant more often than not. Yet the thought of seeing Wilheim again simply made me happy. I thought we had lost him for good when we he had given up his heart to save Ukyo that fateful day at Hollow Bastion. It was nice to see that I had been wrong. Siegfried, I think, was the one who was most excited about seeing him. Who could blame him? After all, they hadn't seen each other in over thirty years... and that was because Siegfried had gotten killed. No doubt Wilheim was also most eager to see his younger brother alive and well. Truth to be told, I think we all were anxious to see them meet again... except, maybe, Octavius.

Do you think Adrian was annoying? Do you think I'm cold and distant? You'd be surprised how wrong you could be. The vampire at least made me laugh every once in a while. The were-bear only sat on his chair and remained quiet, the expression on his face always depicting misery and anger. He only talked when he wanted to tell Adrian to quit his yapping. Such indifference was really getting on my nerves. Mostly, I suppose, because our last adventure together had sort of softened me. But Octavius's will not to get emotionally involved with us was unconquerable. Most irritating.

Either way, we had a little problem onboard: Adrian had not drunk blood for the entire journey. Although he claimed that he was doing perfectly and that he could go on weeks, even months without feeding, his skin revealed otherwise. We could see his veins, the glow of his eyes had grown fiercer, and his fangs had augmented their size.

I'm sure you're asking yourselves right now why one of us didn't just give him a bit to drink. Well, the thing is, we all had knowledge of what it felt like when a vampire bit you. Either you would feel the most horrible pain or the grandest pleasure, depending on the leech that was feeding on your blood. And, since Adrian didn't want to hurt any of us, I think that not one of us wanted to spend a... nice while with him. He wasn't giving us much of a choice, though. The real question was, who would volunteer? Siegfried was most definitively out of the question: he claimed that having his blood sucked by vampires had been the most horrifying experience he had ever felt and he didn't want to go through anything of the sort ever again. Octavius... well, we ruled him out from the beginning. That pretty much left Sora, Goofy, Donald, and me. But, since we were about to reach the Coliseum, we all decided that it would be best if the vampire looked for another source once we got there. Only if there was no other choice would we draw straws.

"This is nothing," he assured, just about half-an-hour before our arrival to the Coliseum. "I've gone longer without drinking a single drop of blood. I can take it: I'm not like all of you, weaklings!"

"Well, your face sure tells us otherwise, Mr. Invincible," Siegfried chuckled.

"Yeah, you turn uglier by the minute," Donald quacked.

"It's not like you're an Adonis either, bird," retorted the vampire.

"It's not that we don't trust that you're okay, but it makes you think, when we look at you," Goofy murmured.

"I'm perfectly all right! I'm my jolly self, like always! The minute I stop making jokes, that's when you should start beginning to worry. But that doesn't happen too often, so you never know."

"You are impossible to comprehend, Adrian," I intervened. "It's like trying to understand the way women think," I added, and the boys all burst out in laughter, except for Octavius. You know, now that I think of it, if I saw 'except for Octavius' every time I say we laughed, I would become rather redundant, so I'll just skip that.

"Bah! I don't have to take this from all you, people! I was in 'Nam!" the vampire exclaimed.

"Uh-huh," Siegfried said. "And that's where the squirrel bit you or where you were accidentally cut by your companion?"

"DOH!! That was way after I became a vampire! Learn your history lessons well, boy!"

"Well, but I don't really beli—"

"DOOOHHH!!" Adrian interrupted, smiling as he did.

"If you just let me fini—" Siegfried tried to say, but the vampire was unstoppable.

"AAHHHH!!"

"Let me sp—!!"

"AAHHHH!!"

"Whatever!" Siegfried yelled and turned his back to Adrian, who had already caused the entire ship to go mad with laughter.

"But don't be angry!" he then said, while chuckling.

"Refresh my memory if you please, bloodsucker," Octavius unexpectedly intervened. "What clan of demons do you hail from? I assume you are Malkavian, for they are all accursed lunatics, very much like yourself."

"Hey, begging your pardon, but I'm just your regular wacko, nothing more," Adrian replied. "It's not like there's someone here, in my body, besides Adrian, and it's not like I can see dead people, hear demons and angels, or anything of the sort. I'm just silly; not scary."

"Well, your stupidity certainly is frightening," the were-bear grumbled. That was certainly more than I could take.

"Octavius, stop it already," I growled. "Since we got in this ship, you've done nothing but to insult Adrian. He's shown a lot of patience by not insulting you back."

"A son of shadows has no right to live."

"Okay, seriously, what have you got against me?" the vampire asked. This time he did not grin as he spoke.

"All vampires are dangerous creatures who know nothing but the pleasure of giving death to other beings, and that disgusts me," Octavius answered.

"Hey, cool it," Sora said. "I thought we had cleared that out. Not all vampires are evil."

"They certainly are perilous to the beings around them."

"Well, if you go into that territory," I snarled, unable to restrain myself. "Adrian wasn't the one who left Siegfried with one eye."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!!" the young man hastily exclaimed, getting up from his seat. "Hey, that wasn't his fault. He said he was sorry, and I don't blame him for anything."

"I know, but it's best he starts thinking about the things he says before he goes berserk with insults," I said.

"...Gwarsh, let's just take it easy, fellas," Goofy mumbled. "We don't want to be fighting against ourselves. That's not a nice thing to do."

I shrugged and looked away. It had been a very low blow, but he had it coming. I'm sure everyone else was thinking it: I was the only one with enough guts to shut his mouth once and for all. And so we continued our journey quietly.

Before long, though, we reached the Coliseum. It was quite a relief to get out of that ship. The tension inside of it was simply too great for anyone to handle. Yet as we landed on the world and stepped out, we realized that we had taken a wrong turn somewhere along our way, because the dark, immense cavern that housed a ghostly, reeking river in which we now stood was unknown to us.

"Um... are you sure this is the Coliseum, Leon?" Donald asked, without taking his eyes off the walls of the cave. We felt like an enemy could come out of them at any second.

"Of course I'm sure," I replied. "Either way, you're the one that landed the thing. You were looking at the radar and at the log book when we came here. Jiminy's Journal has the exact same coordinates that the screen displayed... This is the Coliseum, alright."

"But if that's right, then where's the Coliseum?" asked Sora as he looked around. "Unless it's that thing over there, but I sure as heck don't remember having it under a giant cave," he added, pointing at a far away structure that only he had noticed thus far.

Indeed, there was an enormous building that truly seemed to be a fighting arena. Eerie lights adorned it, making its walls shine with a phantomlike, green color. I discerned what seemed to be a skull carved on the stone, making it all the more unwelcoming. Whatever the case, that was most definitively not the Coliseum we knew and in which all of us, except Siegfried, have fought.

"Hey, guys, don't you think that maybe the place we're looking for is this way?" asked Siegfried, pointing at a passage I had not seen until then. They were stairs that led outside, to where the nocturne sky's stars shone brightly.

"I guess that's the way, then. Although I wonder what this place is..." Sora mumbled.

Yet before we could exit the gloomy cavern, we heard a loud shout. It had been a woman. Turning our heads to the direction of the yell, we saw a lovely maid. She wore a purple dress and had long, brown hair that fell at her back. Her eyes were blue and filled by terror; for we immediately noticed that she was being chased by a group of Heartless. I quickly recognized her: that was Meg, Hercules's girl. I had only gotten a glimpse of her during our former adventure, but that had been enough to remember her. Without a second thought, I drew my blade and attacked the monsters, as did my companions.

These enemies were unlike anything I had seen before. Most of them seemed like tiny dogs with fearsome jaws, while others appeared to be flowers rooted on the rocky ground, and finally, a there was a third type of Heartless that had a drill in place of a nose and could effectively use it to move freely through the ground.

The foes were numerous, but they proved to be little challenge. Sora let loose a barrage of fierce blows that destroyed many of the little dog-like creatures before they could even react. Some of them – the ones that weren't destroyed by his first attack – leapt at the brave boy, attempting to tear his arms and legs apart with their fierce jaws. But the Keyblade master, who had gained much experience and had learned many tricks over our past battles, hastily leapt back and hacked at those pesky Heartless before they got to him.

Donald unleashed a rain of thunder and ice that wreaked havoc upon our enemies. Chill and electricity quickly destroyed what was left of the little mutts. But the subterranean Heartless remained safely under the ground during the duck's magical storm, while the plant-like Heartless seemed completely unaffected by the lightning bolts. The icy grips of his spell did weaken them, though.

Siegfried, Adrian, Goofy, and I took care of the subterranean foes. As soon as they emerged from their hiding place, we slashed them with our sharp weapons, while Goofy slammed them with his trusty shield. Those that escaped the edge of my blade were instantly reached by my potent fireballs, which scorched them to ashes. Those Heartless were either too weak or too stupid, because I didn't even get a scratch on me during that battle. I think not one of us did, for that matter. Siegfried defended his body with his shield quite intelligently and counterattacked without mercy. It was clear to me that he had improved during the time we hadn't seen each other, which was quite good to know. The vampire struck the opponents with his scythe as if he were cutting grass, but instead of vegetation, it was his opponents' heads that which flew high into the air and then vanished in a quick burst of blue fire.

The plant-like Heartless attacked us with their razor-sharp roots, sticking them from under the ground, and with hard seeds which they shot from their petals. While their blows were difficult to dodge (save for Goofy and Siegfried, who hid behind their shields and did not suffer any harm whatsoever), their strategy had a fatal flaw that Octavius took advantage of without hesitation... The moment the were-bear saw one of those roots nearby, he raced at it and got a hold of it and then, with all his might, he pulled upward. The Heartless that suffered this fate were instantly uprooted and died right away. The rest of us were cut to pieces, burned, or smashed to death by the rest of us.

Very soon, there was not an opponent on sight. With a triumphant air, we helped Meg, who lay still on the ground, to her feet.

"Are you all right?" asked Sora.

"Yeah, I'm fine... those things nearly got me," she replied. "Wait a moment... I know you, fellows. You're the ones that rescued from that dreadful castle, aren't you?"

"Yeah, that's us," Donald quacked proudly.

"Well, thanks a lot again," she said.

"What were you doing here, anyway, Meg?" questioned Goofy.

"Well, you see, I was on my way to have a little talk with Hades..." she began to reply, but we all – most impolitely, I admit – interrupted her right then.

"Hades?!" we shouted, and then, Adrian added: "It's been ages since I saw him! How's the old rascal doing?"

"Um... Adrian, you didn't meet him last time," Sora muttered. "And he's not the nicest god out there..."

"Sorry, it was a joke: it was terrible timing, I know, but it just escaped me," the vampire chuckled.

"Either way, why would you want to speak with Hades, after all he's done to both of you?" I asked. "He nearly killed Hercules last time and he handed you to the Heartless, right?"

"Yeah, but I really need to talk to him," she said. "The thing is, he's been sending a lot of monsters to the Coliseum lately, where Wonder-boy has to battle them so that they won't destroy the nearby villages. And he's been at it twenty-four-seven. Even a god needs a breather every once in a while, you know. So I want Hades to give him a break."

"Woman, do you honestly believe that that rat will listen to a word you have to say to it without first casting you into the river of the dead?" Octavius growled. He did have a point.

"I have to try," Meg answered. "Wonder-boy won't be able to take much more of what he's getting. Hades has to give him a chance, at least."

"Hey, I have a better idea," Sora hastily said. "Why don't you let us go talk to him?"

"You, guys?" Meg murmured, with a smile.

"Well, we beat him last time, didn't we?" the boy said, glancing at us. We all nodded in silence. "I bet he'll listen to us. And if he doesn't, then he'll be in for a can of whoop-ass."

"...If you say so. Either way, I bet you guys have more of a chance than I do," Meg admitted and stepped aside. "It's that way – through that huge door. Now, since you're all doing me this favor, I'm going to go see what Herc's up to."

"You go. We'll take it from here," Sora assured.

The woman bid us farewell and so we approached the immense door without hesitation.

"You know, I'm somewhat eager to meet Hercules," Siegfried suddenly said. "He was one of my greatest heroes back when I was a vampire. I used to read a lot about him when Wilheim and I remained inside the libraries and devoured books."

"You'll get your chance," Adrian murmured. "What worries me a bit though, is that if this is Hades' home, then that means we're in Hades – pardon my redundancy, but that's the way it is."

"So? It's not like we can't teach Hades a lesson or two," Donald assured.

"Yeah, but think about it: there's supposed to be a keeper somewhere around here," the vampire said.

"Cerberus," Octavius whispered. "You are right, bloodsucker. And I do recall that last time he was quite difficult to defeat. So we might as well be on our guards."

"Then let's hope he doesn't show up," I said. "Whatever the case, let's just open the door and get on with it."

The huge door yielded to our strength and we began to walk the creepy path before us...

The cave became a tunnel that had the stench of death all over it. Though the way took us deeper and deeper into the ground, we could see every little detail on the walls, every rock that we stepped on; because there were white lights hovering about us. They seemed to be tranquil spirits... yet there were other phantoms, ones that flowed like a river within a spectral mist. It seemed to me that they were showing us the way. But as they did, they moaned with despair and sadness and engulfed our bodies for a moment, only to leave us with a slight chill running down our backs.

"Hmm... oh... Okay! Holy cow!" Siegfried nervously exclaimed as one of those ghosts barely caressed his body. "These guys are getting a little too friendly, and I do not like this at all..."

"They're just spirits, Siegfried, they can't harm you," I forced myself to say, but I was actually quite edgy myself...

"Yeah, he's right, my lad," Adrian said. He didn't seem to have much trouble with the ghosts. "They're not like... those guys!" he suddenly exclaimed, raising his scythe and bringing it down against a pair of Heartless that had appeared from out of nowhere. More monsters emerged from the tunnel's shadows and began to attack us.

The foes were the same as before, and not as numerous. We employed the same tactics we had used minutes ago. But strangely enough... things did not go too well this time around. It seemed that the Heartless had somehow grown stronger and become faster. This time, the aggressive mutts did manage to bite us. Their jaws caught our arms and legs like iron traps. One of them held on fiercely to my calf, causing me extreme pain. I immediately stabbed him with my blade and Donald hastily cured my wound. Yet I could not help but to think that, moments earlier, that thing would not have hurt me so easily.

My friends were having a lot of trouble as well. Siegfried had a nasty bruise on his leg that had been caused by one of the sharp roots from the plant-like Heartless; Donald had been wounded by the subterranean monsters, and Octavius had many bruises on his body, for he had received many shots from the plants. Luckily, though, our sorcerer was quite agile with his spells and soon made all of their wounds disappear.

Scythe, blades, and shields soon overwhelmed our opponents. But, although we had been victorious, we were exhausted.

"I understand that vampires can create walls of fire," Octavius said. "Why did you not use one, bloodsucker? It would have saved us a lot of trouble."

"I'm dead tired!" Adrian replied. "I really hate to admit it, but it seems that the blood issue is finally getting to me..."

"I don't think it's just that," I intervened. "I'm beat as well, and moments ago I felt quite in shape. There's something strange at work here... Somehow, I think that this place is weakening us."

"I think you're right," Sora agreed. "We should hurry up and find Hades before we're too weak to give him a lesson. Let's get going."

With a nod, we all followed the young lad as he made his way through the tunnel and into another dark cave which led to God knew where. But we were getting weaker and weaker with each step that we gave. I was seriously beginning to think that maybe facing Hades in such shape was not the best idea. Nevertheless, it was too late to turn back now: the god of the Underworld surely already knew we had invaded his home and would not let us leave so easily...

The scenery that followed the tunnel was not at all welcoming. We now found ourselves inside a massive cave with a deep pit where the ghastly river shined its brightest phantom green. In there, we could see the ghosts of the people that had fallen to Death's grasp. They seemed to be sleeping and were slowly carried away by the current to the place where they would surely continue with their eternal slumber. It was, as you may imagine, not the prettiest sight.

"Wow... that's pretty scary," Goofy muttered.

"No time to be spooked," Donald said. "We have to find Hades and beat some sense into him!"

"You're right, Donald," Sora concurred. "Hey, look over there, at the very top of the path... that looks like a place worthy of checking out. I bet Hades is in there."

As we looked at the direction in which he pointed, we realized his remark was very accurate. There was a large stairway at the edge of a cliff that stood at higher ground. On the rocky walls, were a pair of holes from which a green light came – the same kind of spooky illumination that had lightened our path so far, only that this one's radiance was much greater. And what was more, we could feel a very familiar, evil, great power emanating from inside that place.

"Let's get going," I said.

The path to the stairs was a long one, and the closer we got, the weaker we felt. The chance of surviving a battle against Hades seemed more and more distant. However, we wouldn't retreat. Not just yet, at least...

With weapons drawn, we slowly climbed the stairs and found a huge, heavy door. Behind it, we could hear that a heated discussion was taking place.

"You will do what I tell you to! Who made you boss around here?? You should be grateful that I brought you back from that smelly pit you were in!" yelled a very annoying, very familiar voice.

"You talk too much," firmly answered a man. "This is my story, 'my Lord', and you are not part of it!"

"'Not part of it'?? You couldn't be more wrong! In this story, I'm the main character, the producer, and the director! And I say you're fired!"

"Time to step in?" Sora suggested with a cocky smile.

"Time to kick some Greek Deity butt!" Adrian growled, grinning like only he knew.

"SURPRISE!!" we all yelled as we barged into the chamber.

Indeed, there was Hades, facing a mysterious man. He wore black pants and shoes and a large, red jacket. It seemed that he had a wounded left arm, for it lay immobile next to his body, leaning on his clothes. He carried a long sword and had swung it fiercely against Hades, but the foe had caught it with his bare hands. The man had short, black hair and a stern expression on his aged, scarred face. It appeared that he was missing a right eye, for he had a large scar that went from his brow to his chin, crossing his closed eyelid.

Apart from these two, there was also a weird-looking, extremely fat cat clad in red armor. We noticed he was afraid and didn't want to even come close to the man or to us, for that matter.

"It's Pete!" cried Donald. "Why am I not surprised to see you here?!"

"YOU AGAIN?!" yelled Hades as he noticed us. I suppose seeing us didn't bring him fond memories.

"Hey, Hades... we brought your medicine!" Sora chuckled and spun his Keyblade confidently.

"Hah!" the fiend laughed. "If you want me, pipsqueak, why don't you come and have a taste of me?"

"It seems to me that you've forgotten your lessons, Hades, my boy!" Adrian exclaimed. Again, only God knew what the heck was going on in his crazy mind. "For instance, the old disappearing trick! Now you see me..." he said, and then, he ran at Hades' back with the speed of a bullet. Our enemy didn't realize he was there until it was too late. "Ta-da!" And so he brought down his scythe with all his might.

But, to our dismay...

"Oh, howdy. You must be new around here. Hi, name's Hades..." the enemy chuckled, ever so calmly, as Adrian's steel went through him as if he were made of vapor. "So, is that all you got?"

"Uh... I'm not sure I understand this. Was that supposed to happen?" the vampire muttered.

"Blasted idiot, of course not!" Octavius exclaimed. "Foul fiend! What sorcery is this?"

"No sorcery, silly teddy-bear," Hades laughed. "See, the thing is, you're in my turf now. And when Hades is in his home, there's nothing you can do that may possibly harm him. In other words, you're sitting ducks for me!" and so, he hurled a fireball at Adrian which scorched him quite badly. The vampire gasped in pain and rapidly came back to our side.

Unwilling to believe Hades' words, Sora threw his Keyblade at him, in hopes of scoring a hit. But, like our opponent had said, it was useless. The boy's weapon went through him and did nothing except, perhaps, tickle him.

"Damn...!" Sora growled. "What the hell is going on?" and as he said these words, we all noticed that our strength was leaving us even more quickly than before.

"So, who's next?" Hades mocked, and an army of Heartless appeared behind him. The black cat – Pete, as the duck had called him – seemed to be delighted by our current incompetence.

"Aw, phooey!" Donald quacked, and reluctantly put himself on guard. Yet it was clear to all of us that, no matter how hard we would struggle to win this fight, victory was unreachable.

However, before we could try to battle Hades again, thus committing suicide, the man that had been fighting the foe before us stopped our madness.

"It's no use!" he shouted. "We must flee this place, now!"

His words quickly convinced us into turning our backs to the enemy and run as fast as our legs could allow us to, which wasn't too much, for we were almost as weak as kittens, now. We hastily exited Hades' chamber and struggled to close the heavy door as we went through. We thought we had escaped successfully as we rest for a few seconds once we had closed the gate behind us. But, unfortunately, we instantly realized that Hades was waiting for us to notice him, standing idly, his arms crossed over his chest.

"That seemed like a good workout," he cackled. "It's a shame it'll be your last!"

"Run for it!!" Goofy yelled. Of course, we were already making our way to the cave that had brought us to the infernal pit which housed the spirits of the dead...

Hades effortlessly appeared before us over and over again and tried to kill us with ruthless attacks. His fiery fists scorched our flesh more than once. Luckily, Donald still found the necessary strength within him to cure our wounds. Many Heartless also tried to slow us down, but our mysterious, new companion was skilled with his blade and quickly disposed of the enemies before they could become a serious threat.

At long last, we barely made it through the cave that led to the tunnel filled with that ghostly mist, and Hades did not follow us farther. The strange man kept on defeating the Heartless without even breaking a sweat: the way I saw it, he wasn't being affected by the evil force that was draining us more and more. A good thing to discover, I must say, because the way things were going, we would practically have to crawl out of the Underworld...

"This is great!" Siegfried grumbled. "By what you guys had told me, I thought Hades wouldn't be such a tough opponent! And instead of an easy fight, we got our butts colossally kicked!"

"In case you haven't noticed, Siegfried, there's something strange going on here!" I answered. "There's something in the air; something wicked that is taking our strength. I suppose it's the effect that this hellish place has on mortals."

"If you're right, Leon, then we have to find a way to counter this!" Sora said. "Otherwise, we're screwed!"

"Let us worry about that later!" Octavius shouted. "Right now, we have to leave this cursed place! If the god of the Underworld is not following us, then I reckon he will unleash an unpleasant surprise upon us soon. I do not believe that Hades will want us to leave his home alive or dead, for that matter!"

"There's the way out!" exclaimed Goofy. "At least, that's the way we came from!"

"Let's just hope that Herc isn't far!" Sora added.

But as we approached the gigantic door that led to our salvation, we felt a rumble. At first, it was just a single quake. Yet seconds later, it turned into a constant tremor that shook the enormous cave with fury. I reckon we all guessed what was coming and so we tried to run faster. Nevertheless, our waning strength simply kept us from reaching the exit in time: the monstrous keeper of the Underworld, the infamous Cerberus, caught up with us and menacingly stood between us and the way out.

"DAMN!!" we yelled and, seeing that we had no other choice, aimed our weapons at the hellish guardian.

It was very clear to me that Cerberus was quite glad to have a shot at killing us, most specifically, Sora and Octavius, for them, along with some of our other friends, were the ones that had beaten him last time. It had taken eight of our companions to best Cerberus last time. Right now, we were short one comrade and were quite weakened. I really hoped that our skill would overcome our fatigue.

The hellish fiend's hatred to the boy and the were-bear became very clear when two of his three heads attacked Sora mercilessly, while he tried to crush Octavius with one of his paws. Luckily, the boy skillfully leaped over the rows of sharp fangs, while Octavius barely managed to get away from the enemy's claws. The middle head then tried to tear Sora's head off, but the boy propelled himself upwards, using the two foreheads of the other craniums as platforms and avoided the third attack. Then, he came down upon the monstrous hound with a powerful swing of his Keyblade. Amazingly, the beast howled in pain and fell on the ground, stunned by Sora's crushing blow.

Cerberus had made a fatal mistake and we didn't think twice before taking advantage of this. As he struggled to get back on his paws, we all let a rain of powerful attacks rain upon him. Adrian's scythe, my blade, Goofy's shield, Octavius's katana, Donald's spells, Sora's Keyblade, and the stranger's and Siegfried's swords all pierced the enemy's flesh, causing him to whimper. Yet we spared no mercy and kept on hitting him. Before long, however, Cerberus regained his strength and snapped his jaws at us. We leapt back before he could snap his teeth on our bodies wholly, but he still managed to hurt us a bit. Donald did his best to fully cure our wounds, but he was too weak to cast his best healing spells and so we still bled, although not fatally.

The fiend became angry and pounced at us like a lion on a pack of mice. He nearly crushed Donald and Adrian with his leap, yet they were agile enough to get out of the paws' way. The vampire was even quick enough to score a rapid slash with his scythe aimed at the foe's toes. This augmented his rage and so he began to spit dozens of fireballs at each and every one of us. These scorching projectiles were easy to spot and supposedly wouldn't be difficult to evade, but we soon found out that the lack of space and the fact that we were simply too numerous for such a little battlefield proved to be fatal. I got hit by one of those things on my back, which nearly rendered me unconscious, for the pain was unlike few things I had ever felt before. Upon seeing me so weak, the beast ran at me and readied itself to finish me. Nevertheless, the stranger picked me up and dragged me away from Cerberus before he could kill me. Once there, Donald cured me as best as he could. I had fallen down, but I was not defeated yet, and so I pressed on the attack.

Our new companion was incredibly skilled with his blade. He was, I think, the one that was doing best. Every time Cerberus lunged at him with a fierce attack, he would bounce off the walls with amazing agility, successfully evading the beast's blows. Claws and fangs, all missed their mark, and the strange man wounded Cerberus's heads several times.

Yet, even though our skill and our efforts were sublime and though we had scored dozens of attacks, the hell hound did not seem to be very hurt. At the time, I supposed it was one of two things: either the curse of the Underworld was devastating us more than we could possibly realize or it was making Cerberus more powerful by the minute. Whatever the case, we were becoming less and less effective. We had to end the battle at that very moment.

Cerberus spat a fireball at me. I barely dodged, but still was sent flying back against a rocky wall. I remained on my knees for a few seconds, catching my breath, trying to think of a way to defeat this fiend without getting ourselves killed. What was worse, Donald had stopped healing us. He was simply too weak. And the great guardian's wounds seemed to be healing...

The mysterious man approached me while the rest of my companions kept the monster busy.

"Any bright ideas?" he asked.

"Last time..." I muttered, as I gasped for breath. And then, I remembered. "Last time, they attacked the eyes and Octavius held him back with his strength by turning into a bear. We have to blind him!"

"Doesn't sound too crazy," the stranger said. "I'll throw you at his heads. You just stay out of his fangs' way and try to slash its eyes."

"I suppose there's little else to be done," I sighed and braced myself. The man grabbed my arm and flung me with all his strength at Cerberus. It surprised me how much power remained within him, not to mention that his aim was remarkable.

I landed on top of the beast's middle head just when it was about to take a swipe at Sora. It turned to me with a puzzled expression and a second later, he was howling in pain, for I drove my sword into his eyeballs, piercing them without hesitation. Cerberus became mad with rage and began to thrash wildly. I remained on top of him as if I were trying to tame a wild bull.

"Good going, Leon!" Sora exclaimed. "Let's do the same thing! Octavius, hold him!"

"Let us hope that this brute is stupid enough not to remember our old strategy!" the were-bear yelled and then, his voice became a savage roar. His clothes disappeared as fur began to cover his skin. His teeth became sharp fangs and his nails transformed into shiny claws. With the strength of an enormous bear, Octavius ran to Cerberus and hit one of his legs with his strong paw, tripping him instantly.

Seeing that the beast had fallen, my friends began to attack him from afar. The mysterious man, however, approached the enemy and began to slash him furiously with that wicked blade of his, while I kept on hurting him with my sword.

"Watch out!!" our new ally warned. I turned back just in time to see Cerberus's enormous tail moving towards me like a snake. I leapt back, but still got hit on the hand and dropped my weapon. As I fell on the ground, I found myself face to face with the hellish hound's heads. I knew the attack was coming, but what I didn't know was from which head or at what moment it would happen. I had blinded our foe and that was an advantage; yet this had also turned him completely unpredictable. He snapped at me with the speed of a serpent; all I could do was to roll on my back again and again in order to avoid Cerberus's deadly fangs.

"I need a little help here!!" I screamed, feeling that my luck would run out very soon.

The dog's jaws snapped right in front of me, but did not trap my body within them. The mysterious man had kept this from happening by standing in front of me and using his sword to stop the attack. He now struggled to keep the giant beast at bay. Right then, Adrian grabbed me from my jacked and pulled me away from the enemy. Goofy grabbed my sword and threw it at me. I let out a sigh of relief and continued the onslaught against the hell hound again.

The beast soon started to fall back, yet he refused to die. Seeing that we would not have a better opportunity than the one before us, we all took one glance to one another and nodded in agreement: all of us had thought the same thing. We made a mad race to the gigantic door and closed it without hesitation. Cerberus realized that we had just escaped from his clutches until it was too late. With a triumphant and mocking air, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Siegfried poked their tongues at the fiend and laughed at him. Now that I think about it, I'm surprised Adrian didn't join them as they scoffed at Cerberus, but that's unimportant. I suppose he was too tired, as were we all.

We remained sitting by the door, catching our breaths. Even Octavius seemed exhausted. But the mysterious man was hardly fatigued. He stood by our side quietly, looking at the door we had just shut.

"Your skills are impressive," he said calmly.

"Thanks... so are yours," Sora answered.

"We wouldn't have made it without you," Siegfried added. "So... what's your name?"

"...Auron," the man replied dryly.

"I'm Leon," I said, getting up. "I guess we owe you our lives. Thanks for your help."

"You're welcome."

"Yeah, thanks, Auron," said Adrian. "By the by, how'd you end up in there, in Hades' chamber? If I may ask, that is."

"...It doesn't matter," Auron sighed. "Either way, I have to leave this place. Farewell... someday our paths may cross again." And with that said, he began to walk away.

"Hey, wait!" exclaimed Donald. But before long, the shadows of the Underworld swallowed him and we felt his presence no more.

"Gwarsh... that's what I call mysterious," Goofy murmured.

"Intriguingly so," Octavius agreed. He had already turned back into a human form and was fully clothed. "I deem we will not see him for quite a while."

"Whatever the case, this mission turned out to be a complete failure," Sora groaned. "I thought we'd have the chance to talk to Hades..."

"Well, aren't you the lucky ones, then??" said a voice suddenly. We all knew who it belonged to and turned to it in alarm. To our dismay, the god of the Underworld stood by the door with a mocking grin on his cadaverous face, his arms crossed over his chest. We all knew that we wouldn't be able to beat him in our current condition...

"How did you get here?" Siegfried muttered in a low, nearly inaudible voice.

"Hey, I'm the chief around here," Hades replied. "It's not like I have to call a cab or anything, you know. And by the way, who's talking to you?" he then snapped his fingers and suddenly, an eerie light appeared underneath Siegfried's feet. The boy looked at it with confusion and then screamed in horror as he fell through it. We watched him fall into this light, unable to even do a thing about it... "Oh, and you too, because you hurt my dog's legs so bad two times already! Consider this as a sue!" he exclaimed and a second light appeared where Octavius stood. The were-bear growled and then he was gone.

"Siegfried! Octavius!" Sora cried. "What did you do to them??" he demanded, aiming his Keyblade at the fiend. At that moment, I believe that we all gained a sudden strength and were ready to take the fiend's head without hesitation. To actually achieve it, however, was a whole other problem...

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy, fellas!" the enemy cackled. "It's not like they're dead. I just send them to a mountain so they can have some fun with some other guys. Hey, maybe you'll see them again. But you should better behave, unless you want to go and say 'hello' to some very nasty pieces of work!"

"They'd better be alright, Hades," Adrian snarled.

"That's entirely up to them now, so take it easy, dead-breath," the god of the Underworld chuckled. "Anyway, I'm not going to kill you just yet, because I want you all to deliver a message to the big-brainless guy."

"Hercules?" Sora murmured.

"Yeah, him," Hades said. "I want you boys to tell him that I'll be sending him another contestant quite soon. It'll be his greatest challenge, for sure. Since I'm such a nice guy, I want you fellas to give him the heads up."

"Why us?" I inquired.

"Because you buffoons should try to lend him a hand. It's not like he's going to be able to handle the monster by himself, despite the fact that he's the 'greatest hero.'"

"It's difficult to imagine that you want us to help Hercules, Hades," I said. "What's the catch?"

"No catch, no catch... just the fact that it'll be impossible for all of you to take on the monster by yourselves," the fiend cackled. "And, hey, I don't like getting my hands dirty. That's why I'm letting it take care of you. Like those two clowns that I sent to the mountain. But, hey, I'm giving you all a chance, right? Though most likely I'll see you again as costumers rather than rivals."

"You're gonna get yours, Hades," Donald quacked in anger.

"You have no idea how many times I've heard that," he replied with a chuckle. "Anyway, I'll see you all soon. I'll be watching your battles with much anticipation," he concluded and then vanished under a cloud of smoke.

"Damn it!!" Sora roared. "This is really bad... We have to warn Hercules about this monster and see if we can help him!"

"But we can't just leave Octavius and Siegfried," Goofy said. "We have to go look for them..."

"Right now, they'll have to look after themselves," Adrian announced. "We can't do much about it at the moment. Hercules will need our help, too, and we can't just leave one thing for the other. We know that Siegfried and Octavius are capable of escaping whatever trap Hades set up for them, but if that jerk wants us to help Hercules against the creature he'll send against him, then he'll most likely be killed if we just leave him alone."

"I agree," I said. "Adrian's got a good point. We have to get out of here and find Hercules."

"Okay... I guess we don't have a choice... but I still don't like it," Sora groaned.

"It's not about liking it, it's about doing what's best... or taking the least worst choice, if you want to see it that way," the vampire said.

We all helped each other to our feet and stumbled away from the door. The passage to the upper world was ahead of us. Meg had already left the gloomy cavern. There was not a soul on sight. But somehow, I felt like I was being watched. And before long, a figure descended from the stairs and beckoned us...

"Sora? Sora! It is you!!" he exclaimed cheerfully in a thick Irish accent.

We all looked at the boy, urging him to answer with our gaze. Yet Sora shook his head and muttered: "I'm sorry... I don't know who you are... show yourself, will you?"

"Oh, you have to be kidding, Sora!" replied the voice and the figure stepped into a haze of light. His black cloak immediately gave him away. He was a fiend and, without losing a second, we raised our weapons.

"You're with the Organization XIII!" Donald quacked.

"Hey, wait a minute! First, let me talk to Sora. C'mon, don't tell me you forgot this face already!" he said and removed his hood. He was a young lad. At first, I thought that I would be staring at a civil Irishman, but he looked more like a punk. A young troublemaker. His skin and hair had a light complexity and his mane was unlike anything I had ever seen before: color was violet and it waved completely as if a gentle breeze was stroking it constantly... no, more precisely, as if the boy was underwater, for it moved slowly, almost laboriously. "It's me, Gixadia!" the punk said, presenting his face as if he were in the end of a Broadway play. But Sora still failed to recognize him, not to mention that he was clearly on the other side. "Oh... I see... so you really, really don't remember me, huh? Boy, Naminé really did some tweaking with your memories, wouldn't you say?"

"What the heck are you talking about?!" Sora demanded. "I'm sick and tired of your riddles!"

"What did you do to us??" Donald cried in anger. "And who is this Naminé girl?? Where is she?!"

"Hey, take it easy," Gixadia replied. "You know, just because we don't have any hearts, doesn't mean we can't have a civilized talk. I've been polite; I've behaved... it's very rude of you to become so hostile when I've done nothing. Reserve some respect, if you please."

As much as I hate to admit it, the Nobody was right. Even though we were enemies, he had not been the least rude to us. Perhaps we would get a bit of information if we were calm enough...

"All right," I said. "We'll reserve some respect. But do tell us what did you do to Sora and the others, will you?"

"That's more like it," he replied with a smile. "I didn't do squat to them. I just watched from the sidelines most of the time. You see, the Organization disassembled your memories. Thanks to Naminé, though, your heads are as normal as a clock. But it seems that she had to erase me so you could function properly again, if you take my meaning."

"Take your meaning?" Sora muttered. "What in the world are you talking about? What do you mean about this whole brain-washing thing? What the hell did you do to us?!"

"Calmly, calmly now. I remind you that it was not me per se, so you can't just go berserk against me."

"You're part of the Organization, so you're involved," I intervened. "Answer the question."

"Where is Naminé?" Goofy added.

"Funny you should mention her," Gixadia said. "But that's unimportant right now, as is the answer to your other question. Most simply, because it's such a long story: it would take me hours to elaborate. I simply don't have time and, from what I understand, neither do you. Actually, what the hell are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be worried about helping Hercules before Hades' monster gets to him?"

"How do you know about that?" Goofy asked.

"Like I said, it's no time for details. Anyway, I'll see you all later, but I do doubt that we'll meet under these same turns. Things will change... for the worst, most likely." And then, he opened a portal of dark energy and entered it. All we heard from him before he vanished was: "Later days." And then he was gone.

"Hey, wait!" Sora exclaimed. "Aw, darn it! They always do this!"

"What did he mean about toying with our memories?" asked Goofy. Out of the three, he was the most concerned about the matter. "Do you think that we'll turn bad? You know... join the Organization?"

"You would've done that already if that were so," I said.

"I've got an idea," Adrian intervened. "Why don't we ponder about this later and get out of here before things go ill with Hercules?"

"You're right, you're right," Sora sighed and so we headed towards the stairs. The fresh evening air awaited us. One could say it welcomed us to the outer realm. "I wish the others were here..."

"Don't worry, we'll get them back," the vampire assured.

"I know... but I was talking about Ukyo..."

"We'll meet her soon enough," I said. "Right now, we have to do something about what's going on right now."

Strangely enough, I didn't know that 'soon enough' would turn out to be sooner than I could've possibly expected...

_Narrator: Wilheim_

I reckon it has been a while since I last spoke to you. I cannot express how grateful and glad I am to be able to do it again. When I felt the end of my life nigh, I could not say good-bye to you. But now that we meet again, I apologize for that. Welcome back, dear readers.

Enough of sentimentality. Let us get on with the story, shall we?

As you know, we had just saved this world of China from a large invasion of Heartless and Huns. The Emperor had presented a medallion to Mulan to commemorate her victory, for it had been hers, over the evil invaders. He had also given her Shan Yu's sword, so the whole world would know what she had done for China.

We accompanied her to her home, back to her father. From what we had been through lately, I was half expecting to have her father scold her for dressing as a soldier and deceiving the army. Yet when she gave to him the sword and the medallion and claimed that she had done what she did to bring honor to the family, the man dropped both gifts and embraced her fiercely and spoke kind and loving words.

"The greatest gift and honor is to have you as a daughter," he said and a tear of happiness ran down her cheek.

To see them so happy together brought me fond memories of my family. I remembered how Master Gerard and Miss Anne took Siegfried and me as their sons and raised us lovingly. I wished they were still alive. How I longed to feel the embrace of a caring parent once again. And, as I glanced at the rest of my friends, I noticed one of them felt the same thing, for her eyes spoke the same words than mine did. Yet Baiken simply turned away and smoked on her pipe without saying a word.

"Father..." Mulan said, unable to stop smiling, and turned to us. "These are my good friends, who helped me defeat Shan Yu. Jam and I couldn't have beaten him without their help," she added, as she beckoned Jam to come closer.

"So you helped my daughter?" he asked and after a moment, he bowed and said: "I am honored to meet you." I suppose it is safe to say that we all liked him from the beginning.

"The honor is ours," I said. "You have raised a proud, valiant daughter. I reckon you must be very proud."

"Proud as any of your parents might be, brave man," he answered.

"I suppose they would be... God rest their souls," I replied, with a smile.

"Father," Mulan intervened. "We brought this child..." as she said this, Felicia, who had carried the poor orphan since we had left the Emperor's palace. "We found him on our way to meet Shan Yu. He lost his parents... He's all alone."

"Say no more," said Fa Zhou and approached the cat-woman. With a warm smile, he took the boy from her arms and said to him: "You are welcome to stay with us. I can only imagine what you have been through... but I assure you that we will take care of you: you're part of the Fa family now." And with those words, the boy smiled and hugged the man.

Meanwhile, Mushu stared at us quietly and happily from his shrine, where other spirits had joined him to celebrate his most recent promotion to family guardian. He waved at us energetically and danced triumphantly. We merely returned the smile and nodded.

"Well, I guess we should be on our way, then," Akane said. "We have many things to do yet, and little time to do them."

"But we'll return," Felicia assured. "We still have some unfinished business here. You'll be safe until then." She then approached the boy, who did not seem too happy to learn that we were leaving. Patting his head, she murmured: "Don't worry, honey. I promise I'll return do you trust me on that?" And the boy smiled and nodded. "Atta boy."

"Will you come back, too?" asked the lad, looking at Jam. It was the first time, I believe, that we heard his voice. Jam, overtaken by happiness, embraced the boy and kissed his head.

"Don't worry, baby, I'll be back as well," she assured.

"You know, Jam may be a royal bitch, but she does have a good heart," my darling whispered into my ear. I chose not to respond in any way at that time.

"Excuse me..." muttered a shy voice behind us. We would have never thought that, upon turning around, we would find Li Shang, looking at us most humbly. "Oh, hi, guys... I was looking for... Mulan!" he exclaimed and approached her. "Um... greetings, master Fa Zhou... Mulan, you forgot your helmet... Well, it's not yours, it's your father's, because, um..." I must say it was most comical to see the captain of the Imperial army stutter; he obviously had no idea of what to say.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" interrupted Mulan. Li Shang was certainly not ready for that question.

Although I am sure we would all have loved to stay and see the captain stammer timidly, but time was pressing.

"Well, I guess we'll let you guys be for the time being," said Ken. "It's time to hit the road. Take care, everyone: we'll see you all again soon, I hope."

"Oh, good-bye, guys," Mulan chuckled. "Good luck!"

"You too," Ryu answered. "Let's go, people."

_Change of scene_

"Thank the Emperor for the supplies!" Ranma exclaimed most happily. "No more ramen soups! Boy, I've never missed Okonomiyaki as much as I did five minutes ago!"

"I'm glad you're all enjoying it," Ukyo replied, while cooking the rest of the food. For my part, I had already eaten three of her Okonomiyakis... and had been scolded three times for bolting them so abruptly. She was about to hand me my fourth but suddenly yanked it away from me. "Do you promise you'll behave this time?" she asked.

"I'm a fast eater, my love," I retorted. "But believe me; I know how to chew."

"You know, sometimes I wonder..." she mumbled and gave me my food. I decided to please her this time, just so she would not worry. After all, it was more gluttony than anything that was making me eat that Okonomiyaki.

"I've got to give it to you, kid," Baiken said, as she finished swallowing a piece of food. "You're one damn, good cook. Really, this is one of the best things I've eaten in a long, long time."

"Thanks, Baiken," Ukyo answered.

"Give me another one, will you? I'm also half-starved to death. I really don't give a rat's ass if I look as disgusting as Wilheim eating so much."

"Thank you for that compliment," I grumbled, while my friends laughed.

"Sorry, Will, but you had it coming."

"I missed these things," purred Felicia. "Truth to be told, I was terribly disappointed when we got to your restaurant and we saw you just had spaghetti."

"Same here," Ryu added.

"It's not like you announced your visit, guys," Ukyo said.

"I was happy to find spaghetti, actually," Sakura intervened. "I missed Italian at that time."

"Me too," said Ryoga.

"I really couldn't care less: I just wanted to eat something," Ken laughed.

At that moment, Jam, who had not joined us during that whole time, appeared and stared at the grill where my darling was preparing the Okonomiyaki. I truly wish that things would continue to be as smooth as they had been for the past hours. However, our new companion did not seem willing to carry on with the truce they had established.

"What's this you guys are eating?" she asked.

"Okonomiyaki," Akane said. "It's very good. Care to try some?"

"Hah!" she exclaimed. "Something cooked by Kuonji? What, do you guys have a death wish?"

"Um... what do you mean, Jam?" muttered Ranma.

"Anything made by her has got to be lethal."

During all these pointless fights, I had stood idly. I decided that it was time to jump to my darling's aid for once, like I should have done every time they argued.

"No, actually, you are quite mistaken, Jam," I said. "Ukyo is an excellent cook. Her food is gourmet quality and I do not for once believe I will ever grow tired of her dishes."

"You only say that because that's about the only thing you've ever eaten," Jam giggled. "I can make you some excellent Chinese traditional food: you'll be savoring the taste for hours and realize what a crappy thing that is."

"I'm not letting you bug me anymore, Kuradoberi," Ukyo muttered, trying to remain calm, but I knew she was seconds away from exploding in anger. All of a sudden, her Okonomiyaki did not taste as well...

"I know; truth is no sin, but it sure feels uncomfortable, doesn't it?"

"Hey, Marmalade Jam, shut your hole for once in your fucking life," Baiken groused. "Do us all a favor and get the hell out of here. I'm eating peacefully here and am in a very good mood. Don't you fucking spoil it." Her insults inexplicably had also stopped being hilarious.

"I can explain why you're enjoying this so much: you practically eat tobacco," Jam mocked. Under other circumstances, I would have no doubt laughed. But that would have probably cost me my tongue.

"Okay, please, just take this and get out," Ukyo said and handed her an Okonomiyaki. "You're making me nervous."

"Do you really think I want to taste this piece of crap? You should be ashamed... poisoning poor Will like that," Jam scorned, winking at me. I covered my face and shook my head, mostly to hide the fact that I was blushing. I have to admit it: Jam is a most beautiful woman and arouses me with her very presence. Nevertheless, my heart belongs to Ukyo's splendor; if she were to speak to me the way Jam did, I would burn to a crisp. But enough of that.

Without realizing it, the woman took a bite of the Okonomiyaki.

"An old Japanese recipe!" she laughed. "This thing is...!" but amazingly, as she began to appreciate its flavor, her attitude changed. "Well, it's not bad, I'll give you that." She bit it again. "Not bad at all..." and after a few moments, she sat down. "Actually, this is very good."

"See? We told you," Akane murmured.

"So you can cook, huh?" Jam said. "...Wow. I mean, this is exquisite."

"We know it is," Baiken muttered as she drank a bit of her liquor. "Now that you're no longer in bitch-mode, perhaps you would be quiet and enjoy the food for a while, hmm?"

"Wow, this is really good!" the woman repeated, not minding Baiken's remark and unable to believe the flavor of my darling's Okonomiyaki. I knew how she felt. After all, I too had salivated at the first taste of Ukyo's cooking... with the difference that I had not eaten anything else in fifty-one years before that. Needless to say, my beloved had a triumphant, almost sardonic, smile on her face. But, thankfully, Jam did not pay heed to that. "So, what did you put in it? No, don't tell me! It's got... Katsuobushi... green onion... octopus... squid... and traditional Okonomiyaki sauce, am I right?"

"Yes, actually, that's it," Ukyo said, seemingly impressed by Jam's sensitivity to different flavors.

"Wow," the woman said again, literally sucking her fingers as she finished the dish. At that moment, I noticed both Ryoga and Ranma blushed at the sight of her doing that; Sakura and Akane realized this too and did not like it the least. I did nothing but to struggle to keep my laughs to myself. "This is prime-quality, you know."

"Well, thanks," Ukyo replied, dryly. But even though she was still mad at Jam, the latter did not care: my beloved's Okonomiyaki had mesmerized her.

"Where did you learn how to make these?" she asked and took the liberty to grab another Okonomiyaki from the grill. She took one bite and hummed in delight.

"My father taught me," my darling answered.

"Ukyo's got a restaurant of her own, Jam," Felicia informed.

"You do?" Jam muttered, amazed to learn this fact.

At that moment, most of us had finished eating. I suppose that, seeing how the two were slowly making amends, my friends got on their feet and slowly began to walk away, thanking Ukyo for the food. I admit, however, that I was too clumsy to take the hint and remained behind. But luckily, I unexpectedly felt how someone yanked me by my shirt, forcing me to get up.

"Let's go take a walk, shall we?" Baiken whispered and dragged me into the next room. "Give them room to talk. If all goes well, they'll stop arguing. I bet you want that to happen, don't you?"

"Yes, but I..." I muttered aloud and she shushed me harshly. "Sorry... anyway, I thought you disliked Jam."

"Don't get me wrong, I can't stomach her," she said. "But now it's more than clear to me that she's not a complete scum. Ukyo could use some rest from the fights. You, more than anyone, should appreciate that."

"...Yes, I believe you're right," I admitted.

"Good. Now shut up and pay attention. You'll need to make an intervention in case one of them fucks things up," she stated and this time, I could not help but to let out a chuckle. "What is it with you laughing every time I freaking curse?"

"I apologize," I replied. "It is just that I'm not used to having a woman speak like a pirate."

"Oh, that's fucking sweet," Baiken mumbled. "Instead of—there you go again! Shut up and listen, will you?"

"Sorry..." I whispered and did as she told me.

From what I heard, it seemed that Ukyo had already told Jam a great deal about her business. But as I listened to their conversation, I realized that my beloved was also complaining that her restaurant had not gotten many costumers of late because of Jam's eatery.

"Before you came along, there were a lot of people hanging out at my place," Ukyo said. "Now, practically everyone's gone. I just have regulars... Akane, Sakura, Ryoga, Ranma... and those two have gone to your place anyway."

"That's bullshit!" Jam exclaimed, and I had to hold my laugher, for to hear such language from her voice was much more comical than hearing it from Baiken's tone. "Pardon the expression... anyway, the deal is, why the heck could you have lost so many costumers? There must be something you're doing wrong: and it's not the food, I can definitively tell you that."

"Well... thanks," Ukyo mumbled. She was obviously astonished that Jam had not mocked her for losing clients to her. "Well, I don't know what I could be doing wrong. Maybe your place is just bigger than mine, or something."

"'Was', you mean... and either way, I don't think it would be that."

"I..." my darling muttered, but found no words. I knew what she was thinking about. To see that sad expression on her face made me want to go to her side and kiss her and speak loving words into her ear. For I knew that she thought Jam's beauty was that which stole her costumers, and that made her feel unattractive.

I knew this because I have lived with her for six months and now knew her very well. If I would have just met her, I would be oblivious to what she thought. But Jam, like most women, has a high developed sense of empathy and realized this as well. This would have been proven to be a devastating weapon... but the woman really did want to make amends and she did not attack.

"I don't think it's because I'm prettier or anything," Jam said. "I think it's just that my place was new. Things would have probably gone back the way they were in a couple of weeks."

"Yeah... maybe you're right."

"Listen, Kuonji—um, Ukyo," Jam murmured, uttering my beloved's name for the first time. "We're not that different from each other, it seems. I think we started off with the wrong foot."

"Yes, we did."

"Um, would you care to start over?"

My darling did not answer. With a gulp, I discretely poked my head out of the door and stared at them without them noticing me.

Please, just accept the offer, Ukyo, I thought.

"Let me start, please," Jam said and extended her hand. "My name is Jam Kuradoberi. I really like your cooking and, although I think your boyfriend is really hot, I'm not interested in him."

My darling laughed upon hearing these words and it had been a merry, relieved laugh, while I blushed and grinned. She sighed and nodded her head.

"I'm Ukyo Kuonji," she replied and shook her hand.

"Great!" Jam said. "You know, I have a friend who fought against you... and she wanted to say she's very sorry about what she did to you."

"Tell her 'apology accepted'." My smile grew bigger and leaned back on the wall. Things seemed to be changing for the better.

"She also asked me to ask you if you would be interested in letting me teach you some stuff... you know... so you can kick her butt next time you meet her."

Laughter again. I was very happy to see that they had finally made peace... And to know that I would no longer be in the middle of their arguments was most satisfying, too.

"No harm in learning," Ukyo replied. "Thanks for the offer."

"You're welcome, Ukyo," Jam said and they both giggled.

"Well, they sure get along fast," Baiken murmured. She had listened the whole time, as well. "As long as they don't team up to tease me, I'll be okay with it."

"Ukyo would never do that," I said. "You will just have to worry about Jam."

"Good. So, where did you say we were heading to next?"

"The Coliseum. It is a mythical place, where we fought many battles in the past. We even faced Hades, the god of the Underworld, during our past travels," I explained.

"Hades, huh?" she mused. "Was he a tough opponent?"

"He was indeed... mostly, because we had fought forty-eight battles in the last few hours before facing him."

"Must've been difficult."

"Extremely."

"I suppose we should get some extra rest," she said, giving one last puff to her pipe before putting it out. "Get to bed and get some sleep. From what you told me, things will get harder from now on."

"I do not doubt that the least," I sighed, getting on my feet.

Baiken then stepped into the living room (so to speak), for that is where she had been spending her nights.

"Okay you two," he told Jam and Ukyo. "Get out of here. I want to get some sleep."

"I guess we could all use some rest," my beloved replied. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow—um, in a while, that is. Good night, girls."

"Night."

"Good night, baby," she said to me as she approached me and kissed me. "See you later."

"Sleep well, darling," I answered, kissing her back.

"Night, guys," said Jam as she and Ukyo left to the ladies' bedroom.

"I will see you later, Baiken," I said.

"Yeah, yeah, get out of here," she replied in what appeared to be her most polite voice.

I smiled, shook my head, and headed off to the men's bedroom, where my companions had already fallen asleep.

_Change of scene_

I rolled over in my bed time after time. Lately, I had been having a lot of trouble to fall asleep. I reckon that the snores of my resting companions were a factor of this. But mostly, I suppose that I missed having Ukyo by my side. Countless nights I had slept alone and fearful. Only by having her close did I feel safe. And, to be more honest, I longed for a taste of her radiant body. I lusted for her: I wanted to taste her lips and smell her perfume; to become locked in a loving struggle with her; to feel the heavenly touch of her divine kiss; to ride the stars with her.

I eventually became thirsty and decided to go for a glass of water. I was very careful not to step on any of my companions and exited the room. Making my way into the kitchen, I noticed Baiken, who slept quietly inside her sack. And then, I saw my darling. It appeared that she also had trouble sleeping...

"Hi, baby," she whispered. She approached me and kissed me. "What's wrong?"

"I'm thirsty. What about you?" I asked.

"...Same."

"Let's go get a glass of water, then."

We headed to the kitchen and drank our water. Once she had finished, she stared at me with her beautiful sapphires. Now I knew I would never be able to sleep.

"I miss you, Wilheim," she murmured.

"I'm right here," I innocently replied.

"Not like that, silly," she said. She then embraced me and gave me a sweet, sensual kiss. "I miss sleeping with you." Oh, yes: this would keep me rolling on my bed forever.

"I long for you, too," I said. "I am restless... I have a lot of energy, if you take my meaning: I need to unleash it in a loving war. My sweet rose... I want you to enclose me within your petals and bathe me with your nectar..."

"Shhh, easy, honey," Ukyo whispered, kissing me passionately. "I want to have you, too, but we'll have to be patient..."

"Patience is a virtue I do not posses," I murmured. "Let us drag Baiken into the other room and stay here..."

"Wilheim!" she giggled, slapping my chest playfully. "I'd love to do that, but we'd surely wake everyone up."

"Then let us bar their doors while we claim this space. Oh, Ukyo, this torture is too painful," I said and ventured to touch her breasts. "My heart burns with desire."

"Where'd your shyness go?" my beloved answered and kissed me with devouring passion. "Don't... we can't..." she said, but the passion in her lips was only growing. "I love you, baby..."

We would have begun to battle and would have followed the loving duel to its inevitable conclusion, I believe... but a loud moan suddenly interrupted us. Alarmed, we put our backs against the wall and waited... A second later, we heard another groan. We glanced at each other and slowly turned to the place from where the whines came from.

Baiken stirred in her dreams. It was clear that a nightmare was haunting her: I could see the despair upon her sleeping face. Ukyo and I quietly walked towards her and stared at her, uncertain of what to do.

"Should we wake her up?" Ukyo whispered.

"I do not know..." I said.

The woman seemed to be in excruciating pain. I really wanted to rouse her... but knowing Baiken, I expected her to threaten me with her blade should I dare wake her up.

But then, she spoke.

"Daddy... come with us... Mommy... help me..."

Without saying a word, we decided that it was too much for her to handle. Ukyo got on her knees and softly touched her shoulder.

"Baiken, wake up," she said.

The woman screamed and reached for her blade in alarm. I gasped and pulled Ukyo away from her. Baiken was bathed in cold sweat and was breathing heavily, yet at least she had opened her eye. She remained still for a few moments before putting away her katana and letting out a relieved sigh.

"Sorry," she quietly apologized. "I was having a bad dream."

"It must've been one jumbo nightmare," Ukyo whispered. "It's okay... you're safe. You're with us now."

"Uh-huh, right," she mumbled and rubbed her eye. "What are you two doing here, anyway?"

"We were thirsty and came for a glass of water," I answered. "We heard you talking in your sleep."

"I was talking?" she stuttered.

"You were calling out to your parents..." Ukyo said.

"...I see," Baiken muttered and got to her feet. She went to the kitchen and drank about three glasses of water – she did not even touch her liquor, which was very curious. The poor thing was shivering. I simply could not contain myself.

"What happened to you, Baiken?" I gently asked. "What happened to your mother and father?"

I knew that Ryoga and Jam had asked her about her past while we had journeyed through the land of China. I understood that she had insulted Ryoga and asked the girl not to ever mention it again. Because of that, I was almost certain that I would soon receive some verbal abuse, as well. But instead of an assault, we got an answer.

"When I was very young..." she began. "I... must've been a little over eight years, I think... I lived with my parents in a quiet village. I was an only child... Anyway, they were both great people. Kind with their neighbors, decent, honest... and they loved me. I remember that they used to let me stay up late and they would read me all sorts of stories. I suppose it's their fault I developed a taste for reading. I like to read a lot, you know," she chuckled and gave us a quick smile that promptly vanished.

"They were... everything to me. I suppose it's common, huh? I mean, I was just a little girl back then," she sighed and looked out one of the ship's windows. She remained quiet for a while. I could see that she was having trouble in telling this to us. The pain was gnawing her heart...

"One night, an army of creatures invaded the town. It was very late... A sudden scream woke me up. I went down the stairs and found out that my parents were staring at the streets. The neighbors' houses were on fire. I yelped in fear as I saw a group of horrible creatures outside. One of them gazed at us and dashed madly at our house. My father ordered my mom and me to make a run for it. We begged him to come with us, but he remained still as a statue against the front door. He shouted at us, commanding us to leave him. His voice shook me with fright... I don't know if it was because all kids become scared when their parents yell at them or if it was because he was terrified, too...

"My mother carried me out of the house. Yet before we could exit through the back door, I saw how one of the monsters brought the door down with a mighty punch. My dad was trapped below it and, then, the monster grabbed his skull and..." she paused for a moment and closed her eye. "Crushed it as if it were holding an earthenware vessel. I tried to yell, but the shout got stuck in my throat."

"My mom ran with me through the streets, yelling for help. But... instead of a defender, we ran into another of those monsters. The creature held a gigantic blade and had raised it over its head and was ready to bring it down with fury. My mother instinctively turned around and held me fiercely. The blow came..." she stopped again. One crystal tear escaped her good eye... while a bloody one ran down her left cheek. "My mother was cut in half. She moved me just in time so I wouldn't get killed. Yet the burning steel still touched me and took my forearm with it. I got up and looked at the monster without uttering a sound. I was too shocked and the tremendous pain kept me from running... Again it stroke. But the fiend wanted me to suffer... he wanted to toy with me." She then turned to us and pointed at her scarred face. "This was the result." More tears ran down her cheeks, but her voice remained firm.

"I couldn't cry... I simply couldn't..." she murmured. "The monster moved in for the kill. But right then, a strange man shot at the beast on the head. It fell down, its lifeless body moved no more. The man grabbed me and carried me out of the town as fast as he could. And just before he left, I saw him..."

"...Him, who?" we asked in a low voice.

"That man," Baiken answered and we noticed hatred in her words. "A cloaked scum of a human being... the very same bastard that had led those hellish creatures... those gears... into my town. I saw his face... I can't explain why, but I can't describe it, even though its image remains seared into my memories."

"We understand," Ukyo murmured.

Baiken wiped her tears with her sleeve and sniveled a few times. "That son of a bitch took everything from me," she then said. "This may sound pathetic to you, goodie-two-shoes... but my purpose in life is finding him. And when that happens, I'm going to make sure he suffers the most horrible death anyone can have. I'll make him wish he was with the Inquisition. I'm going to make him pay for all the harm he caused... for all the people he killed..." she concluded, slamming a nearby counter with her fist.

"Baiken, I am really sorry to hear what happened to you," I said and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, spare it," she sniveled and softly removed my hand. She grabbed a napkin and dried her tears and wiped her nose. "See? I fucking hate to cry," she declared. "Every time I do, it causes... my missing eye to bleed. The wound never fully healed. You must be really freaked out."

"Wilheim was a vampire for fifty-one years, remember?" Ukyo said. "I guess you can say we're both used to bloody tears."

"Right... I forgot," she murmured. "Anyway, now you know. And let me get something straight: I know your kind."

"Our kind?" I interrupted.

"Yeah, your kind. I know you stick to the ideals of justice, freedom, kindness; all that shit. That's why I don't doubt that you'll try to talk me into forgiving that bastard. Save your breath: many people have already tried that. I'm going to kill him and that's final. So you better not stand in my way when the time comes or I'll go through you," she then left the kitchen and lay on her sack. I gave a quick glance to Ukyo and then we both went by her side and sat down beside her.

"Believe it or not, Baiken, you and I have a lot in common," I whispered.

She turned to me with a puzzled expression on her face and sat down.

"Oh?" she mumbled.

"I lost my parents too, when I was very young... not as young as you, though," I said. "Well, they were not my real parents, anyway. They were the two folks that adopted my younger brother and me when we roamed the world like vagabonds."

"How did they die?" she asked.

"The same vampire that turned me and my brother into children of shadows butchered them the very night we were born into the world of darkness."

"Damn..." Baiken whispered. "So, what ever happened to that guy?"

"He tormented me for the longest time in the most horrible ways," I said. "He killed my brother, drove me away from the people I came to love, and threatened to steal the life from my beloved."

"You?" she asked, turning to Ukyo. My darling nodded solemnly.

"I helped Wilheim get rid of him," she said.

"Explain 'get rid of him'."

"I slew him with my blade after Ukyo drove her mighty weapon into his chest," I explained.

"I see..." Baiken murmured, very surprised to learn this. "But I suppose there's not a single day that goes by without you asking for forgiveness, is there?"

"Not for his death," I answered. "I fed on many people for the longest time, before I learned how to feed without killing. I sought evil-doers, yet I still regretted their passing. And there was another man that I slew in cold blood: but that murder, I do lament."

"Oh... Well, let's face it: that son of a bitch had it coming."

"It was revenge, nonetheless. That is why I understand how you feel. And because of that, I will not get in your way when the time comes."

The woman nodded silently, her eye nailed to the floor. She then turned to Ukyo and asked: "What about you?"

"I would be a hypocrite if I tried to stop you," she said. "During our last battle, we faced that vampire's – Magnus's – phantom. It was the same as fighting him... he nearly killed one of our friends and I went berserk. I killed him just like you want to kill that man. Even though he was an illusion of the dead vampire, I thought I was slaying him mercilessly at that moment and I can't say I regret what I did. I won't get in your way, either."

Baiken nodded again. She let out a sigh and then said: "I surely didn't expect you two to have those sorts of backgrounds."

"People surprise you, I suppose," I replied.

She became silent for a moment and then said as she lay down again: "You two are very skilled, but there's much room for improvement. I've seen you use your weapons: you could get better if you wanted. So I'm going to teach you how to use them properly."

"That's going to be a bit difficult," Ukyo murmured, with a grin. "I have a giant spatula, and Wilheim's got Renamark—"

"It's not a question of the type of weapon, it's a matter of technique," Baiken interrupted. "I'm going to try to make us some room here so we can start... Get to bed. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow; especially you, Ukyo, because you're going to be training with Marmalade Jam and with me."

"...Okay..." my darling muttered.

"Go on, get out of here. I need to sleep a bit," she whispered with a surprising, peaceful smile, and turned her back on us. That was her way of saying 'thank you', I guess.

Ukyo and I did as she asked. We kissed each other good-night, and left to our rooms. When the time came, we would help Baiken, should the need arise. For we knew that, even though revenge drew her, she wanted to rid the world of an evil vermin. During my entire life, I had slew but evil beings... except one time; the death which haunted me the most. It even haunts me now. But that is of no importance now.

Although regretful, I felt at ease, for I knew the world would not miss those villains. Surely Baiken's vengeance would do some good...

_Change of scene_

Despite Baiken's tragic story, I hardly got any sleep. The last kiss Ukyo had given me was to blame. Worst still was the fact that it was very obvious that I had not slept much: I constantly yawned and had dark circles under my eyes. Ukyo also seemed a bit tired. Thankfully, while the rest of our companions slept Felicia was already up and had cooked breakfast so my darling did not have to work on that.

"You two look awful," the cat-woman said. "Did something happen last night?"

"No... Nothing happened and that is the problem," I grumbled.

"Shhh, baby!" Ukyo giggled. She then turned to Felicia and explained: "You see, it's just that we're sort of—"

"I don't wanna hear it! La-la-la!" Felicia interrupted and covered her ears while humming aloud.

"I guess there's no need to go into details, then."

"Did you sleep well, guys?" Baiken asked as she came into the kitchen. We both turned to her without uttering a word. Moments later, she grinned and said: "You two need to get laid."

"AHH! I didn't hear that! La-la-la!" cried Felicia, covering her ears once again, while Ukyo and I turned bright red.

"Well, don't worry about it," Baiken went on. "You'll be sleeping like babies tonight: I'll make sure of that."

"Perfect. It seems like we shall be taking orders from a Sergeant now," I mumbled.

"You wish..." the woman jeered, grinning evilly.

Indeed, we thought that the lack of space would make the training very fast and straightforward. But by the time our companions had woken up, we were seconds away from collapsing from weariness: Baiken surely knew how to work us to the very limit. And worse for my darling was the fact that Jam had not forgotten about her promise and also trained with her. To describe the details of our ordeal would take a long while; I suppose they are inconsequential at the present. Suffice to say that Baiken forced us to do many different exercises and taught us the basics of Iaidou – the way of mental presence and immediate reaction (the art she practiced in battle). That in itself was extremely tiresome and Ukyo was still obliged to endure Jam's training. Since they could not spar, Jam forced Ukyo to handle Ki in ways she had never done before. When they finished, she told my darling that she would soon teach her some attacks. That night (well, the equivalent of it), we indeed slept like two infants. I do not think that we even had dinner...

Yet it did not turn out to be such a bad thing, for after two more brutal sessions of training, we got enough sleep and rest for the upcoming battles... For we soon woke up to the Coliseum. We detected a magical field were we hastily landed the ship and exited it and saw the world...

"Um, who was piloting the ship?" Ken asked as he glanced at our new surroundings.

"Who do you think?" replied Ranma.

"In that case, Felicia, I've got two questions for you. Question A: are you one-hundred percent sure that this is the Coliseum?"

"I followed the log's coordinates, this has to be it," the cat-woman replied.

"Which brings us to question B: if this place is the Coliseum, which part of the Coliseum is this??"

"I, uh... pass?"

We were at the very top of an ominous mountain bathed with the light of a fading sun. Below us were rocks of every shape, all sharp, all ready to shred us to pieces should we step on the wrong spot. The wind blew fiercely, howling like a hungry wolf. It was very cold, almost as cold as it was in the snowy mounts of China, but the bite of chill was not as humid. It was a fortress made of stone, its walls threatening to become our tomb should we stay there any longer.

"Not very welcoming, is it?" Felicia muttered.

"Felicia, why didn't you land us next to the Coliseum?" asked Akane.

"Because there was nowhere to land on," she replied. "There was no magical field whatsoever... I mean, there was in the past, but there isn't any now."

"I happen to have a question, as well," Baiken intervened. "Do these ships forcefully need a magical field to land? Or do they just need it for shrinking?"

We all glanced at each other without uttering an answer. After all, we had landed the ships in the past outside magical fields. Perhaps they were not the best or the safest landings, but the ships could do that... I reckoned.

"Oh, you haven't tried it?" the woman exclaimed. "Well, no freaking time like the present, huh??"

"This time, I agree with Baiken," Jam said. "Enlarge the ship again and let's look for the Coliseum."

"I suppose your idea is logical," murmured Ryu as he reached into his backpack and grabbed the Gummi ship. He placed it on the magical field and we all waited... yet nothing happened. "...Why isn't it growing back to its full size?"

"Because there's no longer a magical field here!" Felicia yelled. "Oh, I thought our luck couldn't be that bad!"

"It seems to me like someone's trying to mess with us," Ryoga said in a low voice as he looked around.

"If you're right, then they already know we're here, genius," Baiken grumbled, rolling her eye. "No need to whisper."

"Hey guys, look!" cried Ukyo. My darling stood at the edge of the cliff and pointed below. We ran to her side and noticed she had found the Coliseum at the base of the gloomy mountain. "I guess we weren't that off. We just have to find a way to get down there."

"'Just find a way'..." groaned Sakura. "That's easier said than done... Oh, God! Okay, I'm just going to step back and... Catch my breath." She sat down and began to take deep breaths. We realized her skin was as pale as mine when I had been a child of shadows.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Ryoga asked, rubbing her shoulder gently.

"I have a little problem with heights," the girl answered.

"You're going to have to beat it, then," Jam said. "We have to go down. We can't stay here: we'll freeze to death. Besides, this place gives me a bad feeling."

"Marmalade Jam's right," Baiken agreed. "Let's get our assess down there in one piece, shall we?"

"Let's go, Sakura," said Ryu gently as he helped the terrified girl to her feet. "Don't worry about a thing: I promise we won't let anything bad happen to you."

"Like you could control gravity..." Sakura sighed.

We spent no more time arguing and began our descent. A very thin, steep path lay before us; it was necessary for us to traverse it in a line so that we would not fall into the abyss of death below us. Yet it seemed that the mountain truly desired our demise, for the ground was slippery and the walls were icy cold. My fingers hurt by merely touching them. It was very strange, for these mounts lacked the white shell we had felt in the last world. There was no mistaking it: there was a sleepless malice in the mountain that wanted us dead. For a moment, I had thought that we had landed on Mount Olympus: now I was certain it crawled with evil fiends.

The road suddenly ended. We had reached a very large gap. Below us, the rocks stood like lances, waiting to pierce us. The wind's howl became louder. It was clear to us that there was no possible way to reach the other end by just leaping, despite the fact that it was on a lower level: we would have to make our way by hanging on to the wall. Though its frost was formidably painful, it had a rough surface and seemed climbable.

"Oh, God..." Sakura moaned. "What... what are we going to do now? I can't cross this, I can't!"

"Take heart, Sakura," I said. "We will get you through this."

"But I can't!" the girl exclaimed and adopted a fetal position. Her entire courage had been consumed by the mountain. "It's too high... I can't do it..."

"Goddamn it, you coward b—!" began to yell Baiken, but then she became quiet. Her eye had discovered a pike above us that projected itself away from the mountain. It was right between us and the other end. After a moment of remaining silent, she said aloud: "I assume that, except this little wimp, the rest of you have enough balls to use the wall to scale to the other end."

"Hey, stop harassing her!" Ryoga roared. "I'm sick and tired of your insults! And I won't let you attack her when she's so scared!"

"Listen, asshole, I'm trying to lend a hand here, so shut your fucking hole!" she hissed. I did not chuckle this time: I was in no mood for it. "I can use my claw to swing myself and the girl to the other end. But I can only do it with one of you. That's why I'm asking!" she concluded, giving Ryoga a fearsome glance.

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Ranma ventured to say. "The pike could break with both of your weighs hanging from it..."

"Then let's freaking hope it's resistant," she replied, taking a deep breath. "It's just a thought: it's not like she's going to move otherwise."

"The way Sakura is faring, I think she has more of a chance by going with Baiken than climbing her way to the other side," Ryu said and sat beside the girl. "What do you think? Will you go that way?"

"...I can't climb," Sakura replied. "I just hope it'll hold up."

"You better start gathering some courage, kid," Baiken said as she flung her claw to the pike. It attached to it on the very first try. "Chances are we won't be lucky enough to have another support of this sort. Now, get your ass over here."

Sakura nodded and slowly got to her feet. The rest of us remained in hopeful silence as the girl held on to Baiken with all her strength.

"Here we go," the woman murmured and then she swung across the void. Sakura yelled in a horrified voice as her feet dangled through the air. Meanwhile, Baiken skillfully stretched the rope attached to her claw and safely reached the other end. A swift movement of her arm and her item quickly hid under its sleeve. And, just as she did this, the pike broke and fell to the abyss. "That's what I call lucky," she murmured, and then calmly questioned: "There; happy now?"

"A bit..." Sakura replied, taking a deep breath. "Thanks."

"Your turn now, guys," she called to us.

"Why did that have to break?" Akane muttered. "It would've been nice to swing to the other side that easily."

"We'll be all right, Akane," Ryu guaranteed. "I've climbed mountains like this hundreds of times. It's good workout." He held on to the wall and began to make his way across the void. His pace reflected a bit of pain and, turning to us, he said: "Although the mountains I scaled weren't as cold... Come on, follow my lead."

With a nod, we all did as he told us. His hands and feet marked the places we should grab and step on. Indeed, he had done this many times. He was at ease as he went and this brought a fragile tranquility to our hearts; one that could be shattered if we simply looked down. But not Felicia's, for the cat-woman was so agile that she effortlessly climbed the wall using her fierce claws and at a speed none of us had ever dreamed of. She had been the last to start and was the first to finish.

At last, with pounding hearts, we all reached the other end.

"I envy your nails, Felicia," Jam giggled as she placed a hand on her chest. "I feel like it's going to burst."

"I know exactly how you feel," Ken confessed, taking a step forth. "Well, now that we're all here, let's get a move on."

The treacherous path beckoned us forth. We formed a line again, with Ryu and Baiken at its head, and Ukyo and I at the very end.

As the day went by, the rays of the sun vanished behind the mountain and the stars began to shine. While the sky was crowned with many of them and their twinkling was rhythmical and magical, we were not comforted by the arrival of the night. The air turned colder and our path darker. As if that was not enough, the slope diminished to the point where we felt as if were walking a horizontal road.

Suddenly, the mountain grumbled. We stopped on our tracks and listened carefully. The rocks began to quake. We immediately held on to the wall, hoping that the mountain's wrath would soon cease. But it was not until then that I noticed that the road we were traversing was no thicker than twelve inches. Only I remained on safe ground...

The rocks below my friends cracked. With a loud yell, they all began to fall. All I could do was get a hold of Ukyo's clothes and pull her to safety. The road below her body and mine still remained. The wall beside our companions curved as they fell and turned into a slide which made them disappear from our sight in a matter of seconds. Once my beloved and I were certain we would not fall down as well, we looked below and desperately yelled their names, hoping to get an answer.

"RYU!! KEN!! BAIKEN!!" I cried at the top of my lungs.

"RAN-CHAN!! AKANE!! JAM!!" shouted Ukyo as loud as she could.

There was no answer for a few moments. Our hearts began to fear the worst and our voices quailed as we shouted again.

"FELICIA!! RYOGA!! SAKURA!!"

"...Ukyo?" cried a faint voice from below. We barely heard it, yet recognized it instantly. It had been Jam. "Ukyo! Wilheim!"

"Jam!!" my beloved yelled. "Are you okay?!"

"...We're all fine!" she replied, to our relief. The mountain did not carry her voice as quickly as the wind.

"Oh, thank God!" Ukyo moaned.

"Where are you now?" I asked aloud.

"...In a cave!" Baiken's voice suddenly answered.

"Some sort of a cave!" Jam cried. "There doesn't seem to be much more pits here..."

"There seems to be a way out of here, too!" shouted Ken.

"Is it safe for us to go down?" Ukyo asked.

"...No!" cried all of them at the same time and then Ryu added: "There are many jagged rocks around here that could shred you to pieces! We just missed them! Find another way down: we'll meet at the Coliseum!"

"I suppose there is no other choice," I sighed.

"Okay!" my beloved shouted. "Get going! We'll meet you there!"

Reluctantly, we got to our feet and leaped over the gap the tremor had left. Not far from where we stood was another cave. At last, we could walk without fear of falling to our demise.

We remained alert and close to each other, our guards up, our eyes scavenging the cave for enemies. An eerie air had begun to blow and we felt watched. There was most certainly someone inside the cave. Deeper inside the mountain's belly, where the light of the moon and the stars did not reach, there were lit torches about. It was as if we had been expected...

"We have to find a way out of here, fast," Ukyo whispered. "I have a very bad feeling..."

"I share your fear," I murmured. "Let us remain cautious and keep our weapons at the ready."

The sensation of having someone observe us became too strong. Paranoia was attacking from every corner of the cave. Yet our fears were not in vain and we soon discovered the mysterious fiend that spied on us.

We did not allow him to realize that he had caught us by surprise and instantly raised our weapons. The spy came to the light of the torches. He wore a black cloak which covered most of his face. We could only see his mouth.

"Took you long enough," he jeered.

"Who are you, fiend?" I demanded, taking a step forth. "Unveil your face! Or are you too afraid to show yourself?"

"Wait a minute, Wilheim..." Ukyo whispered. She approached the spy and muttered softly: "Lexwhiim? Is that you? Or Kexisoc?"

"I see you've met our companions," the stranger said. "But... nah. I'm not either one of them. Actually, my name is of no importance. I just sort of came here to wish you a pleasant journey?"

"A journey to where?" questioned my darling. This time her tone had not been kind.

"To hell," the enemy mocked. "Because that's where you guys are going. No chance you'll survive the monsters that live in this mountain."

"What makes you think you will be able to survive us?" I challenged.

"Because I'm out of here!" he exclaimed. "But before that..." He raised his arms above his head and summoned an eerie light that blinded my darling and me for an instant. The glitter illuminated the entire cave and I do not doubt that it shone throughout the land below us. When Ukyo and I recovered from the sudden flash, the fiend was gone. However, he had not left without doing any harm: the light he had conjured had given away our position to the monsters that dwelled in the mountain. Many screeches and roars resounded throughout the caverns and reached our ears.

"Crap..." Ukyo grumbled and put herself on guard, as did I.

Backs to one another, we waited for the creatures to appear. And before long, a group of what appeared to be horrid, tall satyrs emerged from the shadows. They carried double edged lances and their faces were those of rotting carcasses. Their limbs were long and bony and they moved with fearsome agility and alarming speed. There were four of them and quickly surrounded us. These fiends were not Heartless, but evil festered in their eyes: we would only get out of that place by going over their dead bodies.

They wasted no time and began to attack. Ukyo and I parried their frenzied blows as best we could. My darling fared better than I at that time, for the satyrs were amazingly fast; she matched their swiftness, but I was not as quick as them. I had to constantly leap back and to the sides, while my beloved held her ground quite well.

One of the creatures aimed its lance at my legs and I managed to catch it with my foot. I tried to cut its weapon with a stroke of Renamark, yet my enemy spun the lance before my steel could touch it and wounded me with the other end. I fell on my back and both satyrs tried to impale me. I grabbed one of the lances with my hand and used my blade to keep the other away. I was seconds away from making that travel the spy talked about. I concentrated in gathering all my strength from Renamark: the blade began to burn with a desire for blood and fueled my power tenfold. I managed to carry the fiend by its lance and threw him against its companion. They quickly regained their ground, but I had enough time to stand up, at least.

Ukyo had not wounded any of her adversaries. Nevertheless, she had not a bruise on her body. She fought with great speed and her spatula clashed against her enemies' weapons time and again, unleashing a rain of sparks as this happened. The enemies were extremely skilled and it appeared that they could actually foresee what she would do and stopped her blows with ease.

The two satyrs were proving to be quite troublesome. They had now injured me a couple more times and I hadn't made a scratch on their bodies. Their attacks were very coordinated and precise. I tried using Renamark as a rapier but got overpowered. It did not do me any good to use it as a two-handed-blade either; the foes were simply too quick for me. The best choice, it seemed, was to try to wield it as a katana.

Once I had adopted a new fighting stance, I tried to slash one of my enemies on its head with a swift stroke. But the fiend sidestepped and kicked me on the stomach, leaving me out of air. The other one went behind me and tried to impale me. I moved just in time and simply received a scratch. But I now was losing at lot of blood. These fiends were unlike anything I had faced before...

I knew then I would not be able to best their reflexes. I had tried speed and speed and had failed. I needed to modify my tactics to suit my foes... Seeing that I was running out of choices, I decided to employ the technique Baiken had just begun to teach us. I was not very comfortable with this since I was very new at it, but it appeared I was running out of choices. I placed my sword in the sheathe on my back and waited for the fiends to approach. One took a step forth and tried to behead me. I ducked and quickly hacked my foe's stomach. Renamark burnt for an instant and then, it was back in its scabbard, moaning in satisfaction. It had tasted blood.

The fiend never saw the attack coming. Its eyes remained open in pain and disbelief as he fell on his back and then moved no more. Its companion glanced at me and spun his lance once before attacking again. I unsheathed Renamark and parried all of its attacks with much more ease.

In the meantime, Ukyo had also decided to use the same technique. She held her spatula with one hand and hid it behind her body, waiting for the enemies to come at her. They both attacked by aiming the tips of their lances at her stomach. But she skillfully pushed aside both weapons and buried the other end of her spatula in one of the fiends' belly. She pushed the agonizing satyr against its companion. This distracted it long enough for Ukyo to gather her energy on her leg. A second later, she delivered a powerful kick to both fiends, sending them flying into another dark cave. Their shrieks became high-pitched and distant. It was then that we realized that the cavern was a pit.

Seeing that he was all alone now, the satyr that faced me began to quail where it stood. I did not risk giving him a chance to survive. I ran at him and he attempted to push his lance into my body. This time, I succeeded in cutting it with Renamark. Once I got to him, I head-butted him. As he reeled back, I grabbed it by its throat and elbowed his face. The satyr dropped what was left its weapon. Then, I tripped him and when he lay on its back, I delved Renamark into its chest. The fire of the blade consumed it and my sword quenched its thirst for blood.

"Are you all right, baby?" asked Ukyo with a motherly voice as she ran towards me. "You're hurt!"

"They are just scratches," I replied. "There is nothing to worry about."

"Don't be stupid, you're bleeding!" she said.

"...I can use Renamark's fire to cauterize the wounds," I suggested.

"Won't that leave scars?"

"I hope not..." I murmured as I unsheathed my blade and let its flames burn my flesh. The pain was great, but did not last. When I finished, I noticed that the fire had not scorched my flesh: as strange as it may sound, it had coagulated the wounds. "Renamark never ceases to amaze me..."

"Yeah... me too."

"Ah, yes, before I forget... who are Lexwhiim and Kexisoc?"

"They're two guys Baiken and I met back in China," Ukyo explained. "They wore the same type of cloaks than this guy. They seemed nice... I guess they're not decent folk after all. There was a talking dog with them, too; she was called Oxieta."

"Why didn't you tell us about this before?" I questioned.

"...Because I was pissed at you back then," she said. "I forgot after that... sorry."

"Well, it would not have made a difference, I guess," I sighed.

"Let's get out of here," Ukyo said. "We have to get to the Coliseum before things turn worse."

I nodded and we ran out of the cave as fast as we could. We entered another passage; this one led outside, where the stars still shone. There did not seem to be any creatures nearby. But after a few moments, we began to hear groans and yells... both monstrous and familiar. Indeed, there were two men battling against satyrs and other sorts of fiends. One of the voices I had not heard in the longest, most excruciating time...

We ran to their encounter with swift feet and found them across a cliff. There they were, backs to one another, facing a horde of seven satyrs and two minotaurs. These monsters carried giant axes and were twice as tall as their dark comrades. But the men did not falter. I recognized them instantly. Octavius had unsheathed his katana and kept very still, waiting for the fiends to strike... and beside him, stood my long, lost brother, who I did not think I would ever see again until my death, for which I longed so much when I was a _Vampyr_. He held a shield and a sword and fought nobly; there was no fear in his eyes. The glance on his face that fateful night had haunted me until that day... no more nightmares... Yet he was once again in danger. And this time I would not let him die.

"SIEGFRIED!!" I cried as loud as my lungs allowed me to and Renamark began to burn in its scabbard.

Our friends turned to us as and Siegfried's eyes shone with happiness: my heart pounded gladly at the sight of this.

"WILHEIM!!" he yelled back. I was as happy as I could be, but I was also aware of the situation. My darling and I flanked the monsters and began the assault. We decided to take on the minotaurs while Octavius and my brother attacked the satyrs.

These fiends had terrible strength. One strike of their axes made the ground shook. Luckily, though, they were very slow. I chose to fight fire with fire and swung Renamark with all my power. Amazingly, the minotaur stumbled as he blocked one blow of my blade. For her part, Ukyo was as agile as ever and had already wounded her opponent several times, though not fatally.

Meanwhile, Octavius and Siegfried battled the satyrs. I was astonished to see how well my younger brother fought. He lacked my power and Ukyo's speed, but he had already defeated one enemy with smart strategies and precise thrusts. His shield guarded him from many attacks and his blade was true. He had become a formidable warrior. As for the were-bear, he relied, as always, on his brute strength. One swing of his katana was potent enough to make the wind howl and he did a good job on keeping the satyrs at bay. None dared to challenge him alone...

The minotaur I faced brought down his axe with so much fury that it was stuck on the rocky ground. Luckily, he had been so slow that I had easily dodged the blow. I summoned power to my fist and unleashed it in the form of a technique Ryu had taught me.

"SHORYUKEN!!" I roared.

The monster grunted and fell flat on its back. I quickly leapt on top of him and aimed Renamark at its skull. But the minotaur caught my arms with its hands and desperately tried to push the steel of my blade away. It soon became a contest of strength. If it would not have been for Renamark's wonderful powers, I would have no doubt lost the duel. Nevertheless, the sword thirsted for blood and so it gave me the strength that I needed to push the minotaur's hands out of the way and delve my steel deep into its mouth.

Ukyo knew she had to free herself from the enemy fast, for we still had to help our companion and my brother. My beloved waited for the minotaur to raise its axe high above its head before bringing it down with terrible wrath. She immediately rolled under his legs. Once on the other side, she leapt at the fiend's head and swung her weapon fiercely. The minotaur's arms became soft as its body fell lifelessly on the ground, its head rolled over the pebbles and the life left its eyes.

There were still five satyrs left, for Octavius had already killed another one with a mighty stroke of his katana. We each engaged one, safe for the were-bear, who tried his luck against two.

Again, I recurred to the technique Baiken taught me. Renamark patiently waited for the enemy inside its scabbard. The satyr was quick to attack: it spun its lance at me with great speed, both tips nearly cutting my arms with every twirl. I unsheathed my sword to block the blows and did not put it away again. It was only one of them: I would surely defeat it soon. The rest of them were already falling.

But my carelessness, my overconfidence, and the joy at finding my lost brother distracted me from the battle. And for that lack of attention, I had to pay a terrible price; one that still troubles me at night... and brings tears to my eyes.

One of the satyrs Octavius was facing was pushed away by the powerful were-bear and stood his ground close to me. I did not notice him until he dashed at me, his spear ready to pierce my stomach. I gasped in horror: no movement, no matter how quick, would save me from the upcoming deathblow... safe for the most tragic one I could every think of.

"WILHEIM! LOOK OUT!!"

My beloved ran swiftly and tried to divert the spear with her weapon. The lance did not touch me... but I soon noticed, with eternal horror and indescribable confusion, that her body had been pierced by the deadly steel.

"NOOO!!!" I yelled in horror as blood gushed from her wound and she fell to her knees, unable to move anymore. Siegfried raced to my side: he had already killed his foe and made quick work of the one I had engaged. Octavius swung his blade with all his strength and cut through his enemy and the bastard that had mortally wounded my Ukyo in the blink of an eye. Yet the damage had already been done... "No!! Ukyo, please!"

My darling could not speak. Her life was fading. I could feel it as I held her in my arms and cried bitter tears on her sweet face...

"No, please, no!" I moaned.

"Ukyo... no...!" Siegfried gasped and his voice broke. "You... you're going to be okay... Just hang on, we're going to fix you..." but he could not believe his own words as he spoke and neither would my beloved.

Accepting her fate, she merely put on the sweetest smile on her face I had seen so far. She reached out to me and caressed my cheek with agonizing tenderness.

"Wilheim..." she whispered. As she talked, blood flowed out of her mouth. "I... love..." but her lips never pronounced the final word. Her hand dropped to one side... and her heart stopped beating.

"NOOO!!!" I wailed in agony. My chest hurt so much that I felt I was about to burst. I held my baby in my arms and rocked her lifeless body while moaning in indescribable sadness. "WHY?!" I yelled. "Is it fate's whim that I be miserable for the rest of my life?! For years you have mocked me! You have brought me nothing but grief! She was the light of my life, and now I am in darkness...!" I paused for a second and then cried at the heavens, as loud as I could: "I GAVE MY LIFE FOR HER!! Was that not enough proof?? Or is this punishment for my sins?! Do not do this to me, please!! Please, God... take me, but do not take her..." I kissed her brow and wept like a lost boy. There was no console for me. And my brother cried too. He hugged me and cried on my shoulder... not even his embrace, which I had longed to feel, soothed my sorrow.

Octavius kneeled beside us and put her hand on Ukyo's brow... He muttered something, but I am not sure of what he said. Sadness had left me deaf. Yet then, his voice became clear...

"...What the bloody...?" he groaned.

I opened my eyes and saw that Ukyo's body was being carried away by the wind as if it had turned to sand. I tried to hold on to her, yet my grasp was not strong enough.

"No!" I murmured. "Where...? Don't... please..."

"She may still have a chance," a booming, grave voice suddenly said at our backs. I immediately jumped to my feet and reached for Renamark, while Siegfried unsheathed his sword and shield and Octavius gripped his katana firmly.

There was a man before us. He had come out of the shadows as if he had been part of the mountain so far. He stepped into the starlight... His build was tall and muscular. He wore a single piece of clothing about his waist, which covered most of his legs, allowing us to glimpse at his body. His skin was white, like a ghost, only that he had a stench of blood and death about him. A reed tattoo circled his torso, arms, and part of his skull. He had a short beard and a stern glance. His eyes were full of anger and rage: his mere presence intimidated us all. He commanded incredible power: we could all feel it.

Nevertheless, his words finally reached my brain, which had remained utterly useless until that moment. Letting go of Renamark, I exclaimed: "If what you say is true, then tell me was there is to do and I will do it! Please! I cannot imagine life without the touch of my beloved!"

"If you want to save her," he said. "Then you will have to complete a test first."

"A test?" muttered Siegfried.

"To prove your worth," the man snarled. "If you are worthy, then you will have an opportunity at saving her, if she is lucky enough. If not, then you will meet her anyway: you will die."

"I do not fear death," I assured. "I will take your challenge, if that is what it takes to save Ukyo."

"Think about it carefully," he said. "Hundreds have tried what you are about to attempt: only one has succeeded."

"Then it will soon be three of us," Octavius intervened. "We will all go."

"Then say your farewells. I do not think for a moment that all of you will make it alive."

"Who are you...?" asked Siegfried curiously.

"I am the God of War," the man boomed.

"Ares?" the three of us mumbled.

"Ares is dead!" the god roared. "I made sure of that. And if you don't watch your words, then I'll see to it that you join him in the deepest circle of Hades... my name is Kratos."

_(Author's note)_

Regarding Kratos, I will not include any aspects of the story regarding the "God of War II" Videogame, because I haven't played it yet (and because of what I've read about the story). Because of that, consider his appearance as post "God of War" and don't think about the second part :P.

Also, some fragments of Baiken's story are based off leblackdragon's Guilty Gear Assassin's web-comic. I just hope he manages to continue it sometime soon :P.


	8. Chapter 7: The Underworld's Challenges

Hi, guys.

Well, I'm back at school. Good news is that this semester's the last one (FINALLY!); my schedule is _beautifully _much less savage than the ones of the former semesters, and this chapter is very long, too. Again, there will be multiple narrators.

I hope you enjoy and that I'll be able to post the following chapter soon. See ya:)

_Chapter Seven: The Underworld's Challenges_

_Narrator: Ukyo_

Pain began to leave my body and was replaced by an unspeakable fear. I began to fall. The sky was red... it seemed as if it were bleeding. And all around me, were other people, all falling, all crying in horror... all dead.

I didn't know what was going on. All I recalled was the satyr's lance piercing my body. My heart stopped and I was suddenly there. I fell and fell... until I began to see land below me.

There were elevated chunks of flesh all around. That's right: flesh – the platform underneath me were not made of rock or soil: it was palpitating flesh, with deadly spikes coming out of their edges. The columns that held these platforms had the shape of pulsating muscles wrapped over white, ghostly bones. All of this, of course, fueled my terror. But below all that, was a river where all the people were falling into. Once they reached the blood – not water – that flowed there, they became very still and closed their eyes as the current carried them to wherever let its eerie liquid ebb.

I knew I would soon join them. But this was not at all how I thought it would be... Confusion festered in my heart, feeding the fright. I screamed in horror at last – the yell had been stuck in my throat for a while now. Soon, I would move no more... I would be still.

But then, I saw a glimpse of a shadow run through one of the platforms. As I passed by it, the silhouette reached to me and caught my arm. While the sudden pull dislocated it, it prevented my falling. With pain throbbing through my shoulder, I grabbed the hand of my rescuer. I looked up... and terror ran through my heart again as I saw his face.

I remembered his black cloak. I remembered his black gloves, silvery hair, and green eyes. And this time, he smiled wickedly. During our past adventure, he had not grinned like that ever. Yet my life was in his hands now... if it was indeed life. And how he relished that...

"The tables can turn so unexpectedly, don't you think?" he jeered. "To think that I'm your only hope... Tell me, Ukyo... does your chest ache? You seem to be in utter fear. Am I right?"

I couldn't answer. I merely stared at him, begging him with my stare not to let go of me.

"I thought so," he mocked. "I remember the first time we met... You humiliated me. And now, here we are... I can't emphasize how long I've been waiting for this..."

I shook my head and stopped breathing. He was going to do it...

He remained staring at me with his evil eyes, letting terror and doubt gnaw my heart. I couldn't scream. Fright had taken my voice. And now, he would take my life...

Yet then, his smile faded. He threw his other arm at me and began to pull.

"Come on," he said, as he struggled to raise me. "I can't do it all by myself! Put some heart into it!"

The pain in my shoulder became immense as he heaved me, but I managed to breathe at last. I held on to his clothes with my other arm and finally, with his help, I lay on the platform.

The man got on his feet and calmly waited for me to get up. When fear passed and my chest didn't hurt as bad, rage overcame me. I stood up with blinding speed and slapped the bastard as hard as I could, making his head spin and leaving a red imprint of my hand on his cheek.

"You fucking son of a bitch!!" I cried as tears escaped my eyes. Sorry for the foul language... but hey, put yourselves in my shoes: you would've said the same thing. Besides, being next to Baiken for so long had had something to do with that, as well... "Goddamn jerk! You were going to drop me!"

Rather than hitting me back, Sephiroth merely chuckled and rubbed his face.

"You humiliated me once, like I said," he murmured. "I gave you a little scare: consider us even."

"Even, my ass!!" I wailed. "I ought to beat the living crap out of—"

"The man who just saved your pathetic life?" he interrupted. "You disappoint me. I thought you were one of the good guys."

"...Screw you," I growled and walked away from him. Yet I soon stopped and faced him. I hesitated for an instant... but then, I approached him and said: "You want to call it even? Then fix my arm, jackass. You dislocated it when you caught me."

"To keep you from falling," Sephiroth replied. "Now that I think about it, you owe me. I saved your life."

"And I spared yours when we met for the first time," I retorted. "Now fix my damn arm!"

He remained silent for a second. Nevertheless, he then chuckled and got a hold of my arm.

"Touché, my dear Ukyo," he said softly and pulled, making me yell in pain for a moment and then, my extremity was as almost good as new. "I suppose women have a way of delicately putting things in perspective. Congratulations; you caught me off guard."

"Shut up," I snarled and walked to the platform's edge. Upon seeing the hellish scenery, my anger vanished and once again my heart beat with fear. I felt a chill and rubbed my arms before asking in a low, terrified voice: "Is this hell?"

"No, this is the Hades," Sephiroth replied and stepped beside me. "Although I can't imagine hell being much worse."

"What do you mean? How can you know?" I asked.

"Think of this place as a gateway between worlds," he explained. "We're standing on the brink between the world of the living and the land of the dead." He turned to me and said. "I suppose you didn't think the afterlife would look like this, did you? Well, you're probably right. But if you want to find out, then you should jump into that river and let its current take you to your final resting place. No doubt you'll find what you're looking for there. I rather remain here and find a way back to life."

"But... I died..."

"But you didn't fall into the river. That means you still have a chance at getting back. As do I," Sephiroth mused. He paused for an instant and then said: "Regarding your second question... I deem it all started when you locked the door to Kingdom Hearts. When the worlds returned to normal, my spirit remained roaming free through them, because as the chaos that shattered them set me free, so did the turmoil that brought them together. I have acquired much knowledge... My spirit has been listening, watching, learning... Recovering the power I once had, for I am no longer bound to the will of a dead man. It was not until a few days that it acquired physical form... I have returned. Yet true life is not entirely mine. Like you, I'm in the brink of life and death." He stopped speaking again and let out a chuckle. "I apologize: I digress. Be that as it may, I know many things about this world because, before I took physical form, I had been listening and watching much. This is the threshold that leads to the land of the dead; there is no going back, apparently. But I've learned that there was one man that managed to escape this place, so there is a way out of here... only that I don't know where it is."

"If what you say is true..." I said. "If you truly are recovering your lost power, then why save me? You could find the exit by yourself. There's something else to all this, isn't it?"

"Quid pro quo, Ukyo," he answered. "While I have been given flesh again, I'm weak and this place, it seems, keeps me from gaining any more power. There are many terrible monsters about: minotaurs, satyrs, dead soldiers... all of them eager to cast me into that river. And they are strong enemies: I can't take on them by myself. That's why I saved you: so you can help me get out of here."

"I'm much stronger than before, that's for sure. What makes you think I won't kill you myself?" I questioned and aimed my weapon at his neck. Sephiroth chuckled again and calmly replied:

"Because, and it seems I do not get tired of saying this, I saved your life. You wouldn't be as ungrateful as to do that, would you?"

"You're still thinking about the destruction of the worlds, aren't you?"

"The destruction of the worlds?" he scoffed. "That's never been my goal, silly girl. I listen only to my mother's will."

"Yeah, yeah, right," I growled. "Jenova's will. Well, whatever the case, I know you're up to no good. The way I figure it, you're too dangerous to be left alive."

"If you really think that, then run me through," he challenged. He didn't reach for his sword. He didn't even try to push my spatula aside. He just stood there, defying me with his glance and his smile... and the bastard won. I couldn't kill someone who had just saved my life, even if it was that worm. I lowered my weapon and groaned in anger. "I thought so," he jeered. "Either way, if it makes you feel any better, you'll get your chance in the future."

"Whatever," I snorted.

"Incidentally, how is it that you died?"

"I gave my life for my Wilheim," I declared. "Though this place is horrible, I will choose to remain here if it keeps him safe, without a single regret."

"So he did come back after all," Sephiroth said, turning his back to me and nailed his eyes on the river. "That's... good for you."

"It is," I answered and thought about my baby. I knew he would be devastated by my passing... I wanted to go back to him and let him know I was still alive. I never wanted to see sadness in his eyes again. Taking a deep breath, I said: "Let's quit wasting time and find a way out of here. If you want to be an enemy, then be so later. Right now we have to stick together."

"At last you understand," he muttered and unsheathed his incredibly long blade. "Let's get to higher ground."

"I just want to go back to Wilheim," I sighed. "Do you know who this man – the one who escaped this hell – is?"

"I only know he is called Kratos," Sephiroth replied.

"Zeus's son? The personification of strength and power?" I asked. "Then no wonder he made it through. He's a semi-god, you know."

"This world is a legend where you come from," he answered. "That doesn't mean all things you've learned there are true here. I also heard he killed the God of War and took his place."

"...I don't think that ever happened in the Greek mythology," I mumbled.

"Not in yours."

"...Anyway, do you have any idea where we have to go? Any idea of what the exit of this place looks like?"

"No," he confessed.

"Great," I sighed.

"But I do know what our enemies look like..." he murmured and put himself on guard. I turned to him and noticed he was staring at the bloody sky.

Above us, flew a group of ten winged monsters. They had sharp talons and rows of hungry teeth. The appearance of their flesh was very similar to the one we had seen in the deadly minotaurs and satyrs. They dived at us as horrid sounds escaped their ghastly throats, their talons aimed at our heads. And if all of that wasn't enough, the fiends' bodies were on fire, and the flames did not hurt them. They were harpies... but, no matter how terrible or how strong, I would not fall to them. Wilheim needed me and I would go to him no matter what.

I let fury run through my arms and began to swing my spatula at the creatures that swooped at me. I managed to kill two in one blow, while Sephiroth skillfully delved his sword into another one's chest. The rest of the monsters flew away from us and thought twice before attacking us so rashly. I reckon they had never met anything as strong as us before... well, perhaps only once... and quite more powerful than us, if he indeed became the god of war... but they still were no match for us, that was for sure.

One of the harpies screeched and flew at me from one side, while a second one attacked me from the back. I hid my spatula behind me and waited for both creatures to approach as close as I would allow them to. Once that moment came, I spun on my feet, twirling my weapon about me, and cut them in pieces. Then, I leapt high into the air and landed on top of another harpy. Before it could escape, I began to spin on my feet as fast as I could, crushing the monster's bones against the ground. Before long, I tore it to shreds.

Sephiroth, in the mean time, had succeeded in destroying one more harpy. But looking at him, I noticed he was hurt. The monsters had cut through his skin with their terrible talons and had bit his arms more than once. Indeed, he had not yet recovered his full power. The four harpies that remained circled him as he breathed heavily. They began to take turns in attacking him; he could not keep concentrating on just one. I rolled my eyes and ran to his aid...

I summoned my energy to my foot and let loose a mighty kick, just like Jam had taught me. While I lacked the insane power she handled, my attack sufficed to break the wings of one harpy. It flew right into the river of death and was unable to rise and escape its fate. I guess if Jam would've done that, she would've obliterated the harpy in the blink of an eye... Though she had been a pain earlier, I was now lucky to have her as a teacher, I reckoned. But enough of that...

The surviving harpies fixed their attention on me as they saw me destroy their companion. That was a fatal mistake, because, although Sephiroth wasn't the terrible monster he used to, he was still a skilled, dangerous combatant. It only took him one swing of his blade to cut all of the harpies in half. Yet, when their lifeless bodies touched the fleshy platform, Sephiroth fell on his knees.

"Are you okay?" I dryly asked, approaching him.

"They're just scratches; spare your artificial sympathy," he replied and got on his feet again. "This was what I was talking about: I'm still too weak... even weaker than the time I traveled alongside you, I think."

"Then we better find the exit fast," I said. He nodded his head and we leapt onto a higher platform. "Not that I'm too enthused about you growing stronger, that is..."

"Stop quarreling with me and concentrate," he grumbled. "Wherever the exit is, I reckon we'll find it on higher ground."

"If you say so," I sighed. "So, these harpies, minotaurs, satyrs... they're all Hades' minions, huh?"

"Ironically, they're not," Sephiroth answered right before we left to another platform. "From what I've learned, these creatures are the remnants of Ares' army. They're nearing extinction, without the will of their master... They mainly dwell here and on a mountain that's near the Coliseum."

"I should know," I murmured. "One of those satyrs was that which killed me."

"Oh, so you're familiar with them," he said. His tone had not been sorrowful, of course, but it hadn't been sardonic, either. "Either way, I don't think we'll be running into our host for a while. It seems Hades has been neglecting this part of the Underworld for the longest time: Ares was the only one that gave it use. Don't ask me how or why..."

"Not very interested anyway. I just want to get the heck out of here..."

We finally reached a large platform that turned into a thin, fleshy road. Yet there were six dead, fiery warriors guarding the way and when they noticed us, they drew their swords and rushed at us.

The first one tried to cut me in half: I parried his blade with my spatula, spun on my feet and buried my spatula on his chest, killing him instantly. The other two aimed their blows at my stomach. However, I was very well positioned and easily stopped their attacks. I leapt into the air and kicked both their faces, making them take a few steps back.

Sephiroth used his long blade to attack at a distance, effectively keeping his enemies at bay. The warriors couldn't find a way to get around that sword, which gave my companion a great advantage. Nevertheless, one of them managed to evade his blade and charged at him. Sephiroth got a hold of the warrior and used his own momentum against him by pushing him over the edge of the platform with his legs. He rolled back and got up with a fierce, upward slash, which happened to catch one of the remaining two fiends by surprise. The fiend was cut in two: now my companion had only one more soldier to kill.

For my part, I still needed to kill two of those fiends. I decided to separate them so that I would slay them faster. Both of them lunged at me and I parried both of their blows. Then, I pushed one back with a kick to the stomach while I threw the second away from me with my spatula. I had only a few moments before the warrior returned. I rushed at the foe that still stood and pushed aside his blade with one of my little spatulas. Following that, I kicked his face and then tripped him. Once he lay on the ground, I realized that I could kill these two birds with one stone: I again used my large spatula to throw the monster as hard as I could, only that this time, I aimed at his comrade, who had already gotten up. Knocking both fiends down, I threw two of my spatulas at their skulls before they recovered. That was the end for them.

The last warrior knew things were looking very grim for him. He tried to push Sephiroth's sword aside and then ran towards me, as if I would be an easier opponent. But my companion wasn't going to let his foe get away just like that: sparing no mercy, he threw his blade at him like a javelin, piercing his abdomen. Sephiroth walked to the fallen enemy, removed his sword from his agonizing body, and the flames that engulfed him stopped burning.

"Let's keep on going," I said and we began to traverse the road ahead of us.

"So, you've modified your skill," Sephiroth observed. "You hide your weapon from your enemies. And here I thought that the Iaidou was only used with swords."

"It's not a question of the type of weapon, it's a matter of technique," I retorted, quoting Baiken. "I've just begun to work on this skill... I have a new master – two new masters, actually."

"If your new techniques get us out of here, then that's enough for me," he said as we came face to face with an enormous wall. In its center, was an enormous cylindrical bone riddled with deadly spikes, which spun quite quickly. Moments later, we realized, to our dismay, that the only way to get to higher ground, was to climb that abomination. "Things seem to be getting better by the minute," he grumbled.

"Yeah, so it seems," I sighed. "Are you up to the challenge?"

"Even if I didn't feel up to it, there seems to be no choice," he replied. "Just try not to get cut in half." We approached the spinning bone and took a deep breath. "Ladies first," he said.

"Now you're a gentleman," I snorted. I waited for the right time and hastily held on to the column and began to climb diagonally, doing my best to avoid the spikes. For the first time, I was happy I counted with Sephiroth's company, because he constantly alerted me about the spinning blades.

"Keep going! Don't stop...! Hold it there; you're going to get your head chopped off!! Keep going sideways, don't go up... Damn it!! Get down, down!! There; stop!! Good, you're free to move on!"

At last I made it to the top and without a single scratch. I guessed now it was my turn to help my reluctant companion. But as I looked ahead of me, I noticed that there were two minotaurs and two satyrs waiting for me. To see those monsters made me very angry and I decided to face them right away. I'd get them for what they did to me...

"I'll help you in a moment!" I yelled to Sephiroth. "It seems there's a welcoming committee to be dealt with... with extreme malice," I growled to myself.

The fiends ran to face me and I did the same with an insane battle cry. My first victim would be one of those idiotic satyrs. I was so pissed off that I knew I would surely win this battle. The angrier I am, the more I concentrate when I fight. That's a great advantage, you know...

My opponent and I raced at each other. I spun on my feet and fooled my enemy into thinking that I would attack its legs. The jackass fell for the trap and I leapt high into the air before it could reach me. I quickly swung my weapon as I flew over it, decapitating it in less than a second. Upon touching the ground, I rolled forward and after doing so for an instant, I leapt upward, slashing through the air with my weapon with a vertical attack. The minotaur I that was in front of me parried my blow with its axe, but my strike had been so furious that the fiend stumbled backwards and fell. Taking advantage of my position and the one of my spatula, I let it fall with mad fury upon the beast's stomach, spilling its guts all over the ground. I then turned to the two fools left and put on an evil grin on my face.

"Suddenly it's not so fun to attack a girl anymore, is it?" I roared. "Come and get me, fools... and die!"

The satyr and the minotaur approached me, but they did so slowly and cautiously. They began to circle me. I merely stood very still, waiting for them to make their move, with my spatula behind my body. The satyr stood behind me and the minotaur before me. As if on cue, they attacked me at the same time. I pushed the satyr's spear, which was aimed at my stomach (again) aside with my weapon and leapt at him, kicking him on the face and avoiding the minotaur's mighty axe at the same time. Using my weapon at maximum range, I sliced the minotaur's throat before it could recover from its blow. As its agonizing fellow monster rolled over the ground, its horrid hands clasped about its lethal wound, trying to stop the flow of blood, not to avail, the satyr got on its knees and tried to cut off my arm. But I grabbed its weapon and then broke it in half with a kick. With my other foot, I smashed its head against the ground, almost knocking it out with that move. Seeing that he was no longer a threat to me, I sat on top of it... strangely enough, its flames did not hurt me.

"I didn't want to see my baby sad, ever!" I roared. "You... you made him miserable! This is what you get for it!" and so I delved my weapon on its belly. I twisted it and waited for it to exhale its last breath. Once it was dead, I got up and wiped some tears that had escaped my eyes. Regaining my cool, I sheathed my weapon. It was not until then that I noticed that Sephiroth was standing behind me, staring at me with half of a smile on his face.

"This is quite a surprise," he murmured.

"How did you get up here?" I asked.

"I had enough time to study the pattern of the spikes when I helped you," he explained. "Getting here wasn't as hard." He walked toward me and looked at the satyr's carcass. "Funny... It never would've occurred to me that you're such as sadist."

"Sephiroth, I'm not really in the mood to hear that sort of crap, especially from you," I hissed. "So, if you're smart, then you'll just shut the hell up." I got away from him and took a deep breath. I had truly behaved like a psycho back there... but I was beginning to despair. "I... I just want to let Wilheim know that I'm okay."

"Love... it can make you do crazy things, I reckon."

"For the last time, Sephiroth, shut the heck up!!" I roared. He grinned and raised his hands innocently and said nothing more. We started to walk down the path before us, which led to another series of platforms. On the far horizon we could see another one of those spiked bones... Fantastic.

Sephiroth's words had somehow reached me. I began to feel really bad... Guilt and remorse were really beating me down. This wasn't the first time I've done something like this, and the last stunt I had pulled before that moment had been way worse. I simply couldn't allow myself to lose control like that. Such things simply mark the difference between us and the bad guys, I realized. After such a long time, I had finally begun to feel really bad about what I had done to Magnus's phantom. Evil or no, no one deserved the death I gave him. My conscience was ripping me apart. I simply couldn't remain quiet.

"I won't do that ever again," I said. "From now on, if I ever have to kill someone again, I'll give them a quick, painless death. I won't torture anyone again ever, I swear."

"What do you mean?" Sephiroth asked. "I would say that was hardly any torture at all. It was a bit cruel, I'll give you that, but not too torturous."

"Perhaps I wasn't really mean with that satyr, but I've..." I paused for a second. I couldn't believe I was actually going to confess what I did with Magnus's phantom to him. Yet I supposed getting it off my chest would most likely do some good, even if it was with him. Besides, it was not like Sephiroth was someone impossible to deal with and at that time, he wasn't my enemy. "Back when we were on our way to fight Ansem... When I turned into a vampire... or something of the sort..."

"Yes, I remember," he murmured. He amazingly seemed interested.

"We faced Magnus's ghost, and—"

"Who's Magnus?"

"Oh, he was the vampire that turned Wilheim into one. Long story short, he was the cruelest, most despicable being out there... When we fought against him in that horrible place, he mortally wounded Siegfried. That's when I turned into that creature. And I massacred him like..." I let out a long sigh. It was very difficult for me to go on.

"The way you just killed that monster?" he asked.

"No..." I said. "I cut him... slowly... every single member of his body... and when I was done hacking off extremities, I began to slice what was left of him without touching his vital spots. Eyes... tongue... Now that I think about it, when I came down, Sora and the others were looking at me with indescribable fear... I didn't understand why then... It's amazing it took me months to figure it out," I sighed. As I turned to Sephiroth, I noticed he stood still and stared at me with shock. I frowned and shook my head. "Like you've never done that. I'm pretty sure you did it all the time."

"I've killed lots of people, that I can't deny," he answered. "But I've never tortured anyone in such a way... You're one step ahead of me there, Ukyo."

Imagine how I felt like when he told me that. I really, really wanted to hurt myself.

"Maybe I do deserve hell..." I mumbled. "Maybe I am a psychotic..." I couldn't speak anymore. I simply shook my head and looked ahead.

"You should talk about this with your boyfriend," he said. "If you're looking for words of comfort, you've come to the wrong shop."

"Like I would like to hear anything from you," I scoffed. But in reality, I did want to hear that I wasn't a bad person, even if it was from his mouth. I desperately sought this... So much that I even began to give him some pointers, hoping that I would get comfort in exchange, perhaps. "You still haven't faced minotaurs and satyrs, have you?" I asked.

"I have not," he answered.

"Well, the minotaurs are very slow, but they're very powerful. Just move faster than them, which isn't very difficult, and you'll win through. As for the satyrs, they're quite skilled. I've found out that the best way to beat them is through deceptions. Hide your intentions and you'll kill them swiftly."

"Sharing information, I see," he said in his most polite tone. "Thank you very much." That had hardly been any comfort, but it hadn't been an insult or anything of the sort, which was actually more than I could ask from him. I reluctantly resigned myself to go on without hearing soothing words.

We soon reached the terrible column. This one was spinning a bit faster than the last. We stared at it for a few moments and then, I turned to Sephiroth and murmured: "Well, since you seem to be a genius about this, I'm going to wait until you learn the pattern and then we'll climb together."

"I do happen to have a facility for learning things quickly but, why together?" he questioned.

"Because last time there was a surprise party waiting for me at the top of the platform," I replied. "I was lucky they were only four jackasses who couldn't tell apart their heads from their butts. But imagine they would've been twenty: you would've had to try to get to the exit, wherever it is, by yourself. And I reckon you wouldn't want that to happen, huh?"

"That's a good point and well made," he admitted. "Very well. Give me a moment and then we'll climb, very closely to each other."

Of course, I too studied the pattern as best I could. We remained standing still for a long time, watching the eerie bone turn time and again. Until at last we felt confident enough, Sephiroth signaled me to go forth. "Ladies first," he repeated.

"'Ladies first'... you're too kind," I grumbled and held on to the pole. I slowly began to climb, doing my best to stay away from the deadly blades. I had memorized the first few meters of the hazard. However, I soon found myself listening to Sephiroth's counsel.

"Stay right there for a moment!" he exclaimed. "I need you to keep climbing right when I tell you to, but not a moment sooner, got it?! One... two... three!!"

We nearly got our arms, legs, and head cut off many times. Thankfully, Sephiroth knew exactly what he was doing and the close calls stayed at that: mere close calls. Though I think that, by helping me out, Sephiroth did get a few cuts on his body, but nothing spectacular. At long last, I reached the summit. I let out a deep breath and lay still for a few moments.

"Do you mind?!" Sephiroth yelled angrily. He was right in the middle of two rows of blades and didn't seem he would be getting much farther without me lending a hand.

"You could be nicer, you know," I answered, somewhat vexed, and threw my arm at him. He held on and climbed as fast as he could to avoid the spikes. Yet, as he poked his head onto the platform, his face revealed alarm and he shouted:

"ARROW!!"

I heard the whistling projectile and moved aside just in time to avoid it, but I had to let go of Sephiroth to save both our butts. He held on to the pole and luckily didn't fall all the way down.

As I raised my head, I noticed that my fear had come true: this commission was way bigger than the one I had faced earlier. There were six archers on high ground, and besides them, there were six minotaurs, twelve undead soldiers, four satyrs, and four nasty-looking centaurs. They had a sharp blade in each hand and raced at us with alarming rapidity. One of them took the lead and raised his swords with a mad roar. Since I was so close to the edge, I knew that my only opportunity was to strike him from a distance. I had to kill him in such a way that his dead body would become an obstacle for the rest of the fiends.

I got a hold of one of my little spatulas and quickly threw it at the centaur's knee, making him howl in pain and falling on the ground. The momentum he had gained made him slip a lot and he stop right in front of me... Perfect. Without even giving him a chance to turn his head to me, I stabbed his skull. I retrieved my tiny weapon from the fiend's knee and immediately fended off a couple of arrows. By that time, Sephiroth had managed to climb onto the platform. He drew his sword and studied the situation as the centaurs, minotaurs, warriors, and satyrs closed in on us.

"Those archers are too well positioned!" he exclaimed. "We have to take them out!"

"Let me take care of it!" I said. "Just try to avoid the others as long as you can!"

"What??" he blurted as we both dodged another rain of arrows. Once that was done, I leapt high into the air, over the centaurs, satyrs, and two minotaurs, and landed right in the middle of the warriors. I held out my spatula and spun on my feet. Luckily, I took out almost all of then. But then, the arrows started to rain upon me. I evaded them and fended off the attacks from the rest of the soldiers and the four minotaurs that were close. I lured them as far away from Sephiroth as I could – he had enough trouble facing the other large group, though he had managed to already kill a centaur and a minotaur. He had positioned himself right in the middle of the monsters; with the absurdly long reach of his sword, he did a good job of keeping the enemies at bay and had successfully positioned himself away from the edge. The fiends couldn't charge at him because of his blade and his skill. But they would eventually find a way for defeating him, so I had to be quick...

I spun my spatula with enough power to force my opponents to give me some room. That was all I needed to jump away from them and do a mad dash at one of the archers. The fiends realized my intentions and they stopped aiming at Sephiroth. I fended off and evaded the arrows as best as I could, while running away from the soldiers, who had also seen my plans. But they were too slow for me. Without much effort, I reached the first archer. The foe tried to drive me away with a petty punch: I easily grabbed his fist, broke his arm, and threw him over my shoulder as hard as I could, making him fall into the ghastly river.

The second one was on higher ground: I began to scale the wall as if possessed, leaving all of my enemies far behind. The archer desperately fired an arrow at my head, yet I effortlessly ducked under it. With one swift movement, I cut off his head. Two down; four to go.

The rest of the undead warriors took a shot at me and again, all failed. I ran at my next victim with blinding speed: the melee warriors had given up trying to catch me and had gone to destroy Sephiroth. I really had to speed things up. Reluctantly, because I only had three little spatulas left, I grabbed one of my tiny weapons and threw it at the archer that was farthest away from me. The fiend didn't expect me to make such an attack on him and was struck in the chest by the arm by my projectile. While the wound hadn't been fatal, the power of the attack made him fall back, right into the deadly river. It was a real shame, because I was half hoping to get my spatula back from his dead body. Either way, I chose not to think anymore about it as I reached the fourth archer and cut him in half with one brutal blow.

There were only two enemies left and they were standing quite close to one another. They tried their luck again with the bow and arrows and missed me yet again. I jumped to where they stood and drove my giant spatula through the first one's stomach. With mad strength, I swung my weapon at the last fiend, with his companion still hanging of it by his guts, and cast him into the river. With that, the archers were finally overthrown.

Sephiroth was dangerously close to the platform's edge: I had to help him without a moment to lose. I leapt down and raced to his side. The warriors, satyrs, and a few centaurs that were left thought that they would catch me off guard by attacking me as I ran towards them. Quite the contrary: I was prepared for a trap of the sort. I gathered all my energy on the palms of my hands and released it in the form of a shockwave that, though it didn't damage my enemies, did send them flying far away; most of them fell into the river. In the end, only a handful of soldiers and centaurs were left.

Seeing how the tide had changed so suddenly, the fiends lost all coordination. This moment of doubt became their downfall: Sephiroth and I killed the few enemies left with relative ease. At long last, the way to higher grounds was free.

"Well..." Sephiroth said, wiping sweat off his forehead. "I certainly didn't appreciate you leaving me here with all those bastards... but you did a very good job."

"Thanks," I replied, allowing myself a breather. That blast I had unleashed had really drained my strength. Jam would've no doubt obliterated the foes with a fiery ball of energy... but I was just beginning to understand her fighting style.

"The last time I fought with just one person was when Octavius went berserk," he went on. "My companion was Siegfried: you are immensely superior."

"I saw Siegfried and Octavius fighting... before I got beaten," I said. "They were doing fine. Siegfried was faring quite well, I have to say. I bet he's gained some strength."

"Curious... I thought he would've gone with you and Wilheim."

"It's sort of a long story and I don't think that you're actually interested in listening to it."

"Maybe I..." but before he could go on, he looked at the bloody sky and became quiet for a few moments. Seeing this, I too glanced up and covered my mouth with my hands as I saw an enormous figure fall right before us. He remained still for a while before he got up and rubbed his head. "I'll be damned," Sephiroth mumbled.

"Octavius!!" I wailed and ran to his side. "Oh, my God, Octavius! Not you too! Oh, no!"

"I am all right," he muttered, though his face reflected pain. "I may be dead... but it is relieving to see you here..." he then noticed Sephiroth and reached for his katana, yet he didn't unsheathe it. "What is this snake doing here?" he demanded.

"Time hasn't changed your natural charms," our unwelcome companion jeered.

"He's with us for the moment," I hastily interrupted. "Octavius, what happened? Dear God, why?"

"Do not worry," he said, calmly, taking his hand off the hilt of his blade. "I did this so that Wilheim and Siegfried could carry on. They are coming to get us out of this accursed place," he added as he looked around.

"...Wilheim's coming?" I whispered and my heart leapt with joy because, obviously, it wasn't death that which was bringing him to that nightmarish scenery.

"What do you mean 'carry on'?" Sephiroth asked. "It seems that not even Ukyo has a clue of what's going on. Would you be so kind as to explain all of this us?"

_Narrator: Leon_

We made our way out of the Underworld and were soon welcomed by a familiar sight. The Coliseum stood proudly before us as the gentle night breeze eased the pain of our wounds. However, although our bruises were beginning to mend (mostly because Donald had recovered his strength and had started to cast magic healing spells upon us), we couldn't help but to realize that our mission had ended in utter failure. Not only had we been unsuccessful at talking to Hades, we had also lost two of our comrades. Only the gods of that place knew if they would stand a chance on the deadly place where Hades had sent them. But, like Adrian had stated, we would have to worry about them later: Hercules was in grave danger and we had to help him.

"At least we made it here," Donald muttered. "I really hope Hercules is home..."

"Hey, fellas," greeted a familiar voice. We turned to it and noticed Meg. It seems that she had been waiting for us by the portal that led back to the Underworld. "So, how'd you guys do? Hey... wait a minute; weren't there seven of you?"

"We couldn't do squat against Hades," Sora groaned. "It was as if he was made of air... Our weapons simply couldn't harm him. What's more, he said he's going to send Hercules a new beast; one that not even he will be able to beat!"

"Oh, brother," Meg sighed. "It went worse than I thought..."

"Worse than we all thought, I reckon," I said. "Now we don't even know where Octavius and Siegfried are! All we know is that they're in danger. But we've got to help Hercules fend off whatever creature Hades will send in, or this entire world might be destroyed."

"That's a little too apocalyptic, don't you think?" the woman murmured.

"When you've been through dozens of similar situations, you tend to think about the worst case scenarios."

"Jeez... I'm really sorry I put you through all of that, guys."

"Don't worry about it," Adrian replied. "It's not your fault. Either way, do you know where Hercules is?"

"Yeah, he's inside the Coliseum, training a bit," Me answered and pointed at the great gates. "Oh, one thing, guys, before you go see him... Please don't let him know that you saw me there, okay? I don't want him to worry anymore... He's stressed enough as it is."

"Well, we do have to tell him about our friends," I said.

"But don't worry, Meg. We won't tell him that we met with you down there," Goofy assured. "Our lips are sealed."

"Thanks, boys," she said with a smile and walked away.

"Let's get to the Coliseum," Sora reluctantly sighed. With a nod, we walked at the huge doors and pushed them wide open.

Thankfully, the great hero was still inside. Upon seeing us, he smiled joyfully and raced at us. In a way, I believe that we too felt a bit comforted and ventured a grin. It's always good to see old faces, even if we did barely knew Hercules. Even Adrian, who hadn't met him during our last adventure, appeared happy to see him.

"Hey, guys!" he greeted cheerfully. "I'm glad you boys are here!" he approached Sora and enthusiastically slapped his hand. The boy slapped him back, feeling much better, I reckoned.

"What's up, Herc?" he replied. "It's good to see you, too."

"It's been a while, Herc," added Donald. "How's it been for you?"

"Somewhat rough, I must admit," the hero said. "I've been fighting a lot of monsters lately... Oh, I'm sorry," he mumbled as he noticed the vampire. "I don't think we've met. My name's Hercules."

"Yeah, I've heard a lot about you," Adrian answered. "I'm Adrian."

"That's a nasty scar you've got there... How did you—?"

"Don't ask," Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I interrupted and the vampire chuckled as he put on his trademark smile.

"Okay..."

"Herc, we've got trouble," Sora said. "We landed our ship in the Underworld and ran into Meg..." at that moment, Donald discretely stepped on his foot. "Mega trouble, I mean," the boy hastily corrected. "We saw Hades. He said he's going to send you his most formidable monster yet... He claims that you won't stand a chance against it."

"He's said that about most of the monsters I've faced," Hercules confidently replied. "There's nothing to worry about. I'll take care of it."

"I don't know... he seemed dead-serious," Goofy mumbled.

"He tends to be that way, until I make short work of his creatures," the hero chuckled. "Then he gets all angry and there's really not much he can do about it. You leave those things to me."

"If you're so sure of yourself, then I suppose we can worry about our friends," I said.

"Your friends?" Hercules asked.

"Somehow, Hades sent Octavius – the were-bear – and Siegfried – you don't know him – to what he claims is a very dangerous mountain," Donald explained.

"I see," he sighed.

"Do you have any idea where they could be?" Sora asked with a concerned voice. He spoke for us all.

"I hope I knew... But I suppose the were-bear can take care of himself. He's pretty strong, after all; almost as strong as me," he chuckled. "And if he's accompanied, I wouldn't worry too much. I think Hades is still underestimating you guys a lot."

"After last time, I wouldn't be so certain..." I mumbled.

"Besides, we couldn't even touch him. That's something disturbing," Adrian added.

"Oh, that's because of the Underworld's curse," Hercules said. "No one can touch Hades if they go there unprotected. Plus, your strength gets drained... I'm sure you experienced that yourselves." We silently nod as he said this. "You need a special item to be safe... the Olympus Stone."

"The Olympus Stone?" we mumbled and then, Adrian asked: "And would that thing protect us all?"

"Sure it can. The Gods always use it when they go to the Underworld."

"Do you think we can borrow it?" Goofy asked. "If we had it, we could really show Hades what we're made of!"

"And we could force him to bring our friends back," I suggested.

"Well, there's that mountain, over there..." Donald quacked as he pointed at a high peak that reached the clouds. Its amazing height even seemed to pierce the sky.

"Hades said a mountain and there are lots about," Sora said. "I think it's better if we go and beat him up. I like Leon's plan."

"In that case, I'll try to get it for you, guys," Hercules said, with a smile. "Meanwhile, why don't you go take a break at the arena? Right now, there aren't any combats going on. Make yourselves at home." And with that said, he left.

"Well... he's not what I imagined," Adrian murmured as he left.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You see, the world where I come from has Greek mythology, and—"

"I understand," I interrupted. "Wilheim told me about it when he met Hercules too. He said he's nothing like he read in the books of your world."

"Hercules is supposed to be a savage!" Adrian exclaimed with his grin. "He's supposed to travel butt-naked through the world with a club, crushing skulls wherever he finds them!"

"I think your craziness is growing worse," Sora chuckled.

"I'm not mad!" the vampire cried.

"Let's go to the arena," intervened Donald, who clearly wasn't in the mood for jokes. We silently followed his lead, though Adrian and Sora had begun to playfully punch each other.

Inside the arena, we found another old acquaintance of ours... He had already set up many rows of what seemed to be hardy vases that spun magically inches above the ground. Sora, Donald, and Goofy approached him happily and were about to greet him, but the satyr heard footprints and began to speak.

"All rested up, champ?" he asked. "I don't think so. You should probably get some more quality rest, because Hades will surely send another one of his beasts. After you get your beauty sleep, though, you'll have to do a bit of training. Being a champ comes down to two words..." and before he went on, Goofy raised his hand and began to count them as he said: "Eat, practice, sleep!"

"I've got another single, very important word for him: be prepared," Adrian muttered with his smirk. Sora, Donald, and Goofy began to chuckle and the satyr turned around. Upon seeing us, his eyes shone happily and he raced towards Sora.

"Hey, it's the Junior Heroes!" he greeted as he playfully slapped Sora's cheeks. "How've you been?"

"Looking good, old Phil," Sora replied.

"Of course I do," he replied. "Training's hard, but one's got to do it to remain beautiful always. So, what's up with you? Have you earned your true hero wings yet?"

"Well, just take a look at us and judge for yourself," Goofy replied.

Phil remained silent for a moment and then shook his head.

"You still don't have what it takes," he assured.

"You're joking, right?" Donald quacked. "What's a 'true hero' to you?"

"I take it you saw him outside."

"Hercules? I could beat him. With one hand on my back! By the way; hi. My name's Adrian," the vampire said with a very comical tone. I could see that he had recovered his good mood.

"You just don't know when to be quiet, do you?" I asked, but I confess I smiled as I did so.

"Hey... HEY!!" another voice suddenly called. We turned around and let out a joyful, loud laugh.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy hastily raced towards the folks that had just entered the arena. Adrian and I restrained ourselves to walking... although quickly. There they were... not all of them, but they were there. Ryu, Ken, Sakura, Ryoga, Ranma, Akane, and Felicia... I apologize if this sounds cheesy, but seeing them made my heart leap with joy. The cat-woman ran towards Sora and hugged him effusively.

"Sora, I'm so happy to see you!" she meowed. "My God, you're huge!"

"Yeah... kids tend to grow up!" Sora answered.

"And that voice!" Ken added. "You're almost a full-grown man, now, kid! Wow, this is amazing!"

"Hey, there, Akane," Goofy chuckled as he embraced the girl. "It's good to see ya."

"It's good to see you too, Goofy," she replied.

"How've you been, crazy rascal?" Ranma laughed and patted Adrian on his back.

"Getting madder by the minute, according to these guys," the vampire replied. "But I'm the only one that knows the truth! I'm invincible!"

"How've you been, Ryu?" I said and shook the warrior's hand. "It's been quite a while, huh?"

"Quite a while, but strangely enough, it's good to be back on the track, Leon," he answered and patted my shoulder.

Once we finished greeting the rest of our old friends, we noticed that there were two women that came along with them, unknown to us. One of them wore a white and I daresay revealing kimono and had a somewhat angry stare, although I can't deny she was very good-looking. The other one was even more gorgeous. She had the strangest hairdo I'd ever seen and a friendly face... and, I must be frank, two extremely attractive legs.

"Oh, right," Sakura said as she noticed we had only realized the presence of both women. "Guys, these are Jam and Baiken," she announced, pointing out that Jam was the striking lady in the red dress and that Baiken was the one who had the face of a warrior woman. "Girls, these are Sora, Donald, Goofy, Leon, and Adrian. Sora's the guy who's going to help us get rid of the Heartless for good. Isn't that right, my man?" she added, looking at the boy, who was seemingly mesmerized by Jam's... charms.

"Uh... yeah... I... Well, hi," he stuttered and promptly regained his cool. "Nice to meet you, girls... My name's Sora..."

"We just heard, kiddo," Jam giggled with a high-pitched voice as she smiled. "Nice to meet you, too."

"So, do they know how to fight?" asked Donald.

"They're very good warriors," Ryoga assured.

"Ohh! You have a scar too!!" Adrian exclaimed as he approached Baiken. "How'd you get yours? Me? Well, let me tell you how it happened..." and as he began narrating another of his made-up stories, Sora, Donald, and Goofy started to chuckle in anticipation. I smiled... but my grin hastily faded as I noticed how Ryoga, Sakura, Ranma, and Akane hid their faces behind their hands, while Ryu, Ken, and Felicia desperately waved the 'cut it out' signal at the crazy vampire. But Adrian didn't noticed them and kept on talking, making the woman look at him with indescribable, confused rage as Jam had too started to giggle.

"I used to be a miller," the vampire said. "And one day, they asked us to contribute to build an aqueduct. Imagine that! Anyway, the aqueduct passed right in front of my mill. So it wasn't that bad, I mean; I didn't have to travel too far to go to the digging place. Well, one day, I start digging... it was really, really windy. My mill was spinning like mad... Either way, one of my companions starts to act up like a jerk and I get really pissed off. But, being the peaceful guy that I am, I didn't punch him: instead, I threw my shovel at the mill: it got stuck on one of its blades. They were spinning so unbelievably fast that my shovel got loose and came flying at me as fast as a bullet! I moved just in time, though... but, BAM...! I quit the following day, naturally. Anyway, what about you?"

Baiken remained quiet for a few seconds before answering. I guess she was trying to digest the vampire's mad story... which had been the most absurd I'd heard so far.

"Did that really happen??" she muttered in a grave, enraged tone.

"...Well, no; that happened to a cousin's friend's uncle," Adrian answered and Sora, Donald, and Goofy let out a loud laugh while Ryu, Ken, and Felicia slapped their foreheads. "Okay, what really, REALLY happened—"

"You know what? I really don't give a fuck!" Baiken exploded. That put out the giggles of our friends like a bucket of cold water. "And if you ever ask again about what happened to me, I'll beat the living shit out of you, asshole!" and once she had clearly drawn her line, she walked away from the rest of us.

We remained frozen by her reaction for a few moments... but then, Adrian simply waved innocently and shamelessly shouted: "Nice to meet you, too!"

At that point, Jam let out a loud laugh and approached the vampire.

"Baiken's a bit sensitive about those things," she said. "Anyway, I'm Jam... and I think that you and I will get along just fine."

"...Baiken and Jam don't like each other very much," Sakura murmured.

"In that case, I guess I'm on my way to be an elite member of the club," Adrian chuckled and shook Jam's hand, who laughed with the vampire.

"Actually, I think Ukyo and Wilheim are the only ones who can talk to her," Ryoga added.

"Ukyo and Wilheim are here??" Sora exclaimed with bursting happiness. Donald, Goofy, and I became very glad to hear Wilheim's name. "They came too??"

"Oh, boy!" Donald said. "So? Where are they?"

"He's going to be so happy to see Siegfried!" Goofy added.

"Siegfried's here, too??" they all asked. "Wow! Those are such good news!"

"Oh, and we've got Octavius as well," Adrian added, gently poking Felicia with his elbow.

"That jerk!" the cat-woman exclaimed. "I'm going to kick his butt for disappearing off the face of the Earth without saying a single thing! Where is he??"

"Well, what do you know? Another pack of junior heroes returns!" Phil exclaimed as he approached us.

"Phil! What's up?" Ranma greeted and they all began salute him, except Jam and, of course, Baiken.

"Guys, guys, before that, I want you all to take a look at this," Sakura interrupted. We gathered around her as she took out a cell-phone and began to show us some pictures...

"What the...? Oh, no, you're not doing that!" Ranma exclaimed and tried to take away the item from her, not to avail.

"Oh, no, they're so watching this!" she cried. "Sora, catch!"

"What's this?" asked the boy as he peeked at the phone. "Oh, my God! What the heck were you guys doing dressed as ladies?!" he laughed aloud.

"What?? Let me see that!" Adrian said. "Oh, ho, ho! You guys are never, EVER going to hear the end of this!"

"Why'd you show that?" Ryoga growled.

"Because I took the picture; that was the purpose of it," Sakura innocently replied.

"Well, I have to admit, you folks do look pretty dumb," I chuckled.

"They sure look ridiculous!" Phil added.

"There's Wilheim!" laughed Donald. "He looks so pissed!"

"It's so good to see him, even if he is dressed up as a woman!" said Goofy.

We got a few more laughs looking at that hilarious picture, while Ryu, Ken, Ryoga, and Ranma pouted silently. But our current situation was soon reminded to us by a very angry Baiken.

"Are you quite finished??" she snapped as she took the cell-phone from Sora's hands and gave it back to Sakura. Again, the chuckling stopped. She walked around for a few moments, rubbing her face with her hand. It was evident to everyone that she was worried. "They should be here already," she said.

"Hey, take it easy," Ken said softly. "You know they're strong. They'll be just fine."

"I don't doubt their skills: I simply can't trust that freaking mountain," she replied.

"What's she talking about?" Sora mumbled.

"We got separated from Will and Ukyo," Akane explained. "You see, we landed on that mountain, because there was no magic field here and couldn't lift up again. We started to climb down the mountain and the road on which we were walking collapsed: all of us fell down, except Ukyo and Wilheim."

"But... they're okay?" Sora asked.

"They are," they replied and then Ryu added: "Yet they took another road. I'm sure they're just taking a safer route."

"Let's hope so," I sighed. "We too lost Siegfried and Octavius... though I wish I could be as optimistic as you are about Wilheim and Ukyo."

"Why aren't you looking for them?" Baiken asked.

"We don't know where they are," said Goofy. "Hades set us up: he threw Octavius and Siegfried to a mountain... but we don't know which."

"Hades?" the woman murmured. She then turned to the others and said: "I thought you guys had told us that you had already taken care of him."

"Don't look at us, we thought he was out of the picture," Ken replied.

"Hey, don't worry about it, guys," Phil said. "Herc will be back soon with the Olympus Stone and you'll be able to teach Hades a lesson. Right now, though, I got to get going. I've got some important business to take care of."

"What about?" questioned Sora.

"Oh, nothing you should concern yourselves about," the satyr said and left us. Right as he exited the arena, Hercules made his way in.

"Hey, Herc," greeted Sora. "Look who just dropped in! Old friends!"

"That's Hercules?" muttered Baiken with a confused glance.

"Oh, hi, guys!" the hero greeted cheerfully. "I'm sure glad more of you made it here! It's good to see you all." He effusively shook each of their hands, even Jam's and Baiken's. "Guys, I'm afraid I have bad news... The Olympus Stone has been stolen."

"What??" Sora and I exclaimed. "By who?" I questioned.

"We don't know," Hercules answered. "We just know that it was someone in a black hood... He had a bunch of accomplices that wore white colors."

"Somehow, I don't feel surprised..." Sora mumbled.

"Is it someone you know?"

"You might say that," I answered. "The robber is most likely part of a group called Organization XIII."

"What was that?" our friends asked. "Are those guys with the Heartless?" asked Ryu.

"It's sort of complicated," Sora said. "We'll dish out the details later... Right now, we got to recover that stone. Did you know where that guy went?"

"I think he was last seen heading for the Underworld," Hercules replied.

"Great..." we grumbled. "Even if we do find him there, chances are we'll be too weak by the Underworld's curse," I said.

"Guys, remember that there's thirteen of us now," Ken intervened. "I don't know what curse you're talking about, but thirteen is a pretty high number."

Sora, Donald, Goofy, Adrian, and I looked at each other with thoughtful expressions. The boy then shrugged and said: "We did beat Cerberus again, right?"

"We did," we answered. "I guess it's back to the Underworld then," Goofy murmured.

"I'll let you guys take some revitalizing potions," Hercules said. "I have some of them available. You'll need them; you'll be just fine with them until you find the stone, at least."

"I suppose we can borrow it once we get it," Donald assumed.

"Sure."

"Aren't we forgetting something?" Jam intervened. "What about Ukyo and Wilheim? And those other two guys... whatever they're called...?"

"Siegfried and Octavius," I said. "Yes, you're right... Hercules, do you think you could go find our friends? Ukyo and Wilheim are here, too, in that mountain over there," I added, pointing at the mount beside the Coliseum.

"I can send someone," he answered. "I've got to stay here, just in case Hades does decide to unleash his so-called ultimate monster, remember? Besides... I can't find Meg..."

"She was just with us on the lobby," Sora said.

"Yes, indeed... where could Meg have gone, I wonder?" a very annoying voice suddenly said. We raised our weapons and faced Hades, who had appeared out of the blue right in front of us. "You know, I may just have the answer!"

"Hades!" Sora yelled. "Where are Siegfried and Octavius?! Bring them back!" He tried to strike him with his Keyblade but the fiend teleported far away from us. "Oh, I see you're not so brave anymore, are you??"

"Hey, you ran away from my battlefield," the foe answered. "Nothing wrong about retreat, is there? Oh, and especially now that you've got another pack of savages helping you out."

"Savages?" Ken intervened. "You should have a little more respect. After all, we 'savages' were the ones that whooped your butt last time, remember?"

"Actually, I remember you sitting on a bench, doing nothing. But enough of that..." replied Hades. "I actually came here to talk to Mr. Herc. You see, I got a message that's got to be delivered to him. I know: why would Hades do the job of an errand boy? But hey, after all, I am a very nice guy."

"I don't want to hear a word from you, Hades!" roared Hercules and threw a punch at the fiend that cut through the winds as if it were a typhoon. Sadly, Hades teleported away from the fist just in time.

"Hey, why is everyone so aggressive in here?" he cackled. "I come here, letting you know that I know where Meg is, and you start acting up like a bully! I suppose you don't care, so I'll just return to my home sweet home..."

"You kidnapped her?!" demanded the hero, thus preventing Hades from disappearing.

"You see... 'Kidnap' is such a strong word. I prefer the term 'forcefully invited her'... No, wait: that sounds a bit too hostile too, doesn't it?"

"I'll teach you a lesson..." angrily muttered Hercules and then whistled loudly.

At his command, a fantastic creature descended from the sky: it was a white horse with a blue mane with the wings of a majestic eagle. The incredible being landed near Hercules and neighed as the hero prepared to mount it. Yet before they took off, Hades spoke again.

"Wait, wait; are you really going? Because, do remember that you've got a match coming up... It would be terrible if the people here didn't have their hero to look out for them. They would be devastated! HA! Did you get that? Devastated! It's funny, you know..."

"Why, you...!"

"Good luck with your match... NOT!!" he jeered and then disappeared from our sight.

Hercules hid his face behind his hands and sat on the sand. I suppose that he had forgotten all about us when he had learned that Meg had fallen into that monster's claws. How did that happen, I reckon none of us could tell... But we were a team and we would do whatever we could to help. Sora was the one who exteriorized these feelings.

"Don't worry, Herc," he said. "If Hades took Meg to the Underworld, we'll get her back. After all, we're going down there, aren't we?"

"...You'd do that?" Hercules asked and hope shone in his eyes.

"We already did that once, didn't we?" said Ken. "And there was no fee for that, remember?"

"I suppose you're right," the hero said, feeling much relieved. "I know that, in your hands, Meg will be safe... Just find her quickly, please..."

"Sure thing!" Sora exclaimed. "But... we'll have to look for the Olympus Stone first, obviously."

"Yeah, that's right," Hercules agreed.

"Well, if we're going to do that, let's start already," I urged. "Just do remember to send someone to look for our friends, please."

"Of course. Don't worry; your friends will be fine... Oh, before you go, don't forget to go to our warehouse and grab some potions."

"Let's hope they'll work..." Jam murmured. There was nothing else to be said and so we left the arena and headed back to the Underworld, very reluctantly, I might add.

We headed towards the warehouse and grabbed as much potions as each of us could carry. When we were outside the Coliseum, Baiken softly asked: "Was that really Hercules?"

"Yep, that was him," Sora answered.

"Hercules? Hercules, the son of Zeus?" she insisted.

"Yeah... yes; I know he's not quite the mythological hero we know," Akane said.

"Not quite? He's a complete wimp! And don't get me started on Hades!"

"I know!" Adrian added. "Hercules should go about the world butt-naked, roaring like a wild boar, shattering trees and rocks!"

"And you should be buried six feet under," Baiken growled. It was clear that these two would never get along.

"That wouldn't work," the vampire replied. "See, I can't die; I'm immortal! I'm invincible!"

"You're a moron!" the woman snarled.

"That's what they call me back home," Adrian chuckled and Jam, who had been trying to held back her laughter up until that moment, was unable to hold a chuckle. I managed to contain my own laughs and a smile; seeing Baiken so pissed sort of fueled my willpower to do this...

"Adrian, look..." Felicia whispered as the furious woman took the lead. "Baiken's a bit... difficult. Please, just try to stay out of her way as much as you can, okay?"

"Okay; I was just trying to be friendly. I'm a very nice guy," the vampire answered.

"That's very clear to me, but... you know... Just keep it down."

"Got it."

"So, Leon; is the Underworld's curse really that terrible?" asked Ryu.

"It's not fatal, but it is quite dangerous," I replied. "At first you won't notice anything. Nevertheless, as time passes, you'll feel that the enemies are growing stronger and stronger. But it's not that: you're getting weaker by the minute. And no matter how much rest you get, you can't recover your energy." I let out a sigh as we made our way into the gloomy cave once more. "I really hope that these potions work on us. If they only mend our wounds, then they won't be much helpful. It's too bad not even Donald's spells proved useful..."

"I can heal bruises, but I can't give you back any energies," Donald, who had overheard us, intervened.

"That's a shame... because that curse is wicked," added Adrian. "Even I can't escape its effects..." at that moment, Felicia and some other turned to him, pleading him with their stare not to start over. "That's not a joke," he quickly said, with a chuckle.

"Oh, I understand," giggled Akane.

"Speaking about that, Adrian, you look like major crap," said Sakura. "No offense..."

"Ouch... don't they teach tact lessons in school anymore?" said the vampire.

"They never have..."

"Why didn't you drink from any of the guys?" asked Felicia.

"Take a wild guess," I snorted.

"Oh, please!" cried the cat-woman. "If it's because of the 'you'll feel real good' issue, get over it."

"...But I'm thirsty..." Adrian mumbled, toying with his fingers.

"Here we are," said Goofy aloud, before the discussion could continue. We knew, however, that we would inevitably have to touch the subject again. Right now, though, there were more important things to take care of.

We made our way into the large stance that led to the multiple tunnels, where the ghosts crawled through the floor and walls, and where the curse's effect was strongest. Upon setting foot in that horrid place, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Adrian, and I began to feel its effect; this time, it seemed much more potent. We had no choice but to drink some potions right away.

"Wow... that fast?" asked Ryoga. "I thought you guys would last longer than that..."

"We just got out of here barely half an hour ago," Donald retorted. "And what's worse: this potion isn't making me feel much better."

"Same here," I added. "We have to find that stone and fast."

"Hey, wait a sec..." muttered Ranma as he took a step forth. He glanced ahead and noticed a fallen, unconscious body... It was Phil's. "Damn! Phil! Hang on, we're coming!"

Minding our surroundings and hoping that Hades wouldn't drop by, we raced to the satyr's side. Ranma smoothly shook him and made him open up his eyes.

"Oww... My head..." Phil whined.

"What happened, Phil?" asked Sora as he looked for wounds in the satyr's body. Luckily, he seemed to be whole.

"I'm not sure..." he replied. "I came following this guy in a black cloak... I caught up with him and tried to talk to him. Next thing I know, I saw black." He got up and rubbed his face. "I was looking for a backup hero, in case things go ill for Herc," he explained. "He's been battling a lot of monsters lately. I don't know if he'll be able to hold on by himself."

"Don't worry, Phil, we're backing him up," Ranma assured.

"You guys?!" the satyr exclaimed with a very unsatisfied tone. That really vexed me.

"What? You don't think we can handle the situation?" I demanded. "We saved Hercules in the past and we fought against the titans. We might not be up to par with the hero, but we can certainly take care of ourselves. Rather than cawing like a chicken, I'd very much appreciate it if you took us seriously."

"Oh, brother..." Phil murmured. "I guess beggars can't be choosers..."

"Well, we could just leave if you want..." Jam said. Seriously, he could've at least tried to pretend. Although on a second thought, maybe that would've pissed me off more.

"No, no... Thank you," he said. "Listen, if you want to catch that guy, he went that way," he added, pointing at an enormous gate that was opposite to the one we had previously entered.

"Then let's waste no more time and catch him!" Ryu urged and raced to the door. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Adrian, and I took a deep breath and hoped (for I reckon they thought the same thing I did) that the perpetrator would still be close by.

We crossed the gate and entered a very different place from the one we had previously traversed. It was a very tall cave, its floor completely covered by mist. There were spirits here and there, but they weren't as numerous as in the ghostly tunnel. Either way, our friends didn't seem that impressed, except for Jam, who did gulp and took a few steps back.

"And I thought I'd seen creepy things in my life..." she murmured.

"What's the matter, Marmalade Jam?" Baiken asked. "Can't handle a few phantoms?"

"Aren't you the least surprised??"

"I've seen truly horrible things; this is child's play."

"You know, back when I was—" began Adrian, but Baiken immediately interrupted him, for we all knew he was going to tell a joke.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!!"

"Adrian, please...!" Felicia begged.

"Okay, okay; it was just a momentary lapse," chuckled the vampire.

"One more of those, just one more, and I swear I'll cut out your tongue!!" the woman roared, to which Adrian pressed his lips against each other, although he couldn't keep himself from smiling and giggling. I began to get a bit edgy: Baiken really did mean business.

"Heads up!" exclaimed Ryu. "Here come some Heartless!" I assure you, I never thought I'd be relieved because of the Heartless' arrival. We raised our weapons and started to battle.

This time, the Heartless' offensive proved to be useless. While we were not in our best shape, the rest of our friends fought incredibly. It was clear that they had been honing their skills during all that time. Jam and Baiken were equally, if not more, impressive than our old comrades. The gorgeous girl was an incredibly agile fighter; I could feel her enormous power with every attack she unleashed. Many Heartless tried to surround her and she let loose a flurry of kicks so fast that I could hardly see her movements, and defeated every one of her opponents. Baiken's style, although not as flashy as Jam's, in my opinion, was more effective, and certainly much more brutal. I don't know if she had been fueled by rage against Adrian, but every Heartless that went after her was dealt with deadly precision and frightening savageness. Thankfully there was no blood flowing within our enemies' bodies, or else it would've been a bloodbath.

"That was a good workout!" Ken laughed. "These guys are getting weaker... or we're getting stronger. Either way, we kicked their butts."

"Now that they're out of the way, I suggest we hurry up, before more come," I said. "Or worse; before Hades gets here." I noticed Adrian wanted to say something, but he immediately bit his lip and glanced at Baiken. And I thought that seeing Octavius and him together stressed me enough...

The ghostly fog beckoned us. Ryoga was the first to step through... and the first to fall.

"RYOGA!!" yelled a horrified Sakura. Luckily, I have quick reflexes and managed to jump after our companion and caught him. I had to bury my blade in the rocky ground so that I wouldn't fall too, however.

"...Wow... that was a close one..." he muttered and Sakura let out a relieved sigh, as did the rest of my friends.

"Good catch, Leon," said Ranma, as he helped me pull Ryoga back to safety.

"No, it's okay; let go off me," Ryoga said.

"What?" I mumbled.

"The ground's just a few feet away; there's really no danger. Actually, I think the way out is through here."

"That was quite a scare you gave us, Ryoga," said Sora as he jumped down. We all followed and saw that Ryoga's words were true: the walls curved down and formed another tunnel which led into a darker cave. "Great... more tunnels," the boy grumbled.

"Let's stop complaining and keep fighting," I declared. "The more we whine, the farther away the fiend will go. Let's keep going."

We traversed the tunnel as fast as we could and faced about five more waves of Heartless. Our friends began to feel their effects and their attacks became less and less effective by the minute. Potions were barely helping. To regain just a bit more of strength, we had to drink about three each. We were quickly running out of them. It was just about the same as being healed once by Donald. So it was that, when we had about one potion each, Adrian had an idea.

"Oh, crap, we're so stupid!" he exclaimed.

"What now?" asked Felicia. I noticed she was worried that the vampire had come up with another joke.

"Here, give me your potions," he said and collected the valuable brew from each of us. Baiken stared long and hard at him before giving him hers. "Donald, you keep them."

"What? Why me?" the duck quacked.

"Because you can heal us all," explained the vampire. "Your spells are worth more than these, so it's best if you're the one with most energy."

"I like the way you think, Adrian," I said with a confident smile.

"That's a very good idea," added Goofy, with a chuckle.

"So you can be serious when you concentrate," Jam giggled.

"I could be a monk if I wanted to!" exclaimed the crazy vampire.

"HA!" yelled Sora.

"I'm not afraid of you, shorty!"

"You couldn't be a monk even if—wait a moment! Hey!"

"I saw him, too," I murmured and withdrew my blade. Sora and I started to run after the shadow that had just appeared on the other side of the cave. The rest of our friends followed us, their weapons and fists at the ready.

"Stop!" Sora demanded.

The fiend turned around and became still. There was no doubt: he was a member of the Organization XIII. I reckoned that hopefully the sight of the whole lot of us would intimidate him. Nevertheless, the fiend removed his hood and revealed himself. At first I thought we would be staring at Gixadia once again; but this fellow was not him. He had short, spiky, orange hair and a young face. He lacked the mysterious air that the former enemy was bestowed with, yet we could still feel his power. And, like his companion, upon seeing Sora, he smiled; yet unlike Gixadia, he referred to him by another name.

"Roxas?" he muttered. "Roxas? Is that you?"

"Roxas?" snorted Sora. "What are you talking about?"

"Are you sure you don't remember me, Roxas?"

"They're just trying to confuse you again! Don't listen to him!" Donald cried angrily.

"I'm getting really tired of your games!" Sora added.

"Wait a minute..." Baiken murmured and took a step forth. He studied the man carefully for a few seconds and then, she smiled as if in him he had found the key to solve a mystery. "So, how are Kexisoc, Oxieta, and Lexwhiim doing?"

"How should I know? I don't keep track of the rookies," the enemy replied.

"Baiken, what are you talking about?" asked Felicia.

"I'll tell you about it later. Right now, though, we understand you have an item of great importance: I suggest you give it back before I accidentally drop my sword on your heart."

"Boy, aren't you the rude one?" he chuckled. "The guys must love you."

"Hey, no one talks to my friends like that!" Sora intervened.

"Easy, kid; we just met," Baiken said. "It's not like I can't take out this fuck-face by myself."

"What was that?!" demanded the Nobody as he summoned a most... unorthodox weapon to his hands: a blue guitar that seemed to be made out of ice. At his call, an army of Nobodies appeared before us. "I'll have to teach you some manners!" he cried and threw himself against Baiken. The woman easily parried the blow with her blade and tried to counterattack by burying her steel into his belly. The fiend moved just in time to avoid being impaled, but was nonetheless hurt.

"Pitiful!" cried Baiken as she brought down her katana upon the fiend with great anger. The enemy parried the blow with his guitar, yet fell on his knees. "While your skills are pathetic, your guitar is interesting. Tell me: any chance you know a bitch dressed in red that uses an instrument to defend herself as well?"

"I don't have to answer any of your questions!" her opponent replied and leapt away. "And this is just the beginning!" He then began to play on his guitar. We could see the notes that came from his instrument, which changed into watery clones of himself. Quite an impressive skill, I must admit. Moreover, the Nobodies were also attacking us now, and those fiends were much more dangerous than the Heartless. "Hey, Roxas! Check this out!" he laughed as his replicas began to assault us.

I summoned a fierce ball of fire and unleashed it on two of the fiend's doubles. They disappeared like drops of water that touch a boiling rock. Nevertheless, two more reached me and let a flurry of attacks rain upon me. I leapt away from them and kept them at bay with my blade. Although they were fast, I knew they were weak and would quickly crumble under any of my attacks.

The Nobodies tried to attack us from all directions; fortunately, we were close to one another and hastily destroyed the first fiends that closed in on us. The rest of the Nobodies kept their distance and circled us carefully. While we were making short work of the enemy's clones, the rest of the foes kept us surrounded.

"They're not attacking right away..." observed Ranma.

"These guys are smarter than the Heartless, so watch out," Sora warned.

"Hey! He's getting away!" Goofy exclaimed. We immediately noticed that the Organization XIII jerk was on the run. He had used the clones to divert our attention...

"Oh, no, you don't!" exclaimed Adrian and then he vanished from our sight. A second later, he stood in front of the powerful (but coward) Nobody. He had evidently caught him by surprise, for the foe stood still and let out a gasp. "I thought you said this was only the beginning? You don't impress me!"

"How did you—?!" began the enemy, but he was interrupted by his own pain-filled cry as he rolled back into the fray, for Jam had managed to run past the Nobodies and had delivered a powerful, aerial kick to the fiend's face. Her speed was amazing... while not as agile as Felicia, I do believe that she was faster than the cat-woman.

The Nobody got back on his feet and furiously played his guitar again. Not only did more replicas appear from out of thin air; a column of icy stalagmites rose with ground-shaking force. We leapt aside as we saw them come to us, yet Sakura wasn't fast enough and was severely wounded. Donald quickly healed her, thankfully, but we could all see that he was seconds away from fainting.

Ryu and Ken were perhaps the greatest team in the fray: they covered each other's backs with astonishing synchronicity. While the rest of us fought fairly well alongside each other, their teamwork was simply vastly superior. This doesn't mean that they weren't wounded by the enemy, however: all of us sustained bruises. The Underworld's curse was really taking its toil on us.

Sora managed to grab one of the clones by its legs and began to swing it like a ball with chain, taking out many of the fiends that surrounded him. Goofy spun on his feet and destroyed all nearby foes with his hardy shield. Sakura and Ryoga defeated their opponents with various kicks and punches. But I could see in their faces that their strength was waning. There were still many Nobodies to defeat and the main antagonist kept producing more clones of himself and letting loose those terrible stalagmites.

"Sora!" I cried and approached the lad. "We have to take out the Organization XIII guy right now."

"Agreed!" he said. "Akane, lend us a hand!" he yelled at her, since she was the one closest to us and, subsequently, to the fiend.

I let loose a powerful slash and destroyed all foes before us, allowing Sora and Akane to run straight at the opponent. The boy leapt high into the air and raised his Keyblade over his head, threatening the enemy with a potent aerial strike. This diverted his attention from the girl, who ran at him, slid and caught his legs with hers. With a swift movement, he knocked him down, leaving him completely at Sora's mercy. The kid fell upon him with a rain of lethal blows and the Nobody was unable to divert all of them. Using the final remnants of my strength, I pushed aside all of my opponents and helped Sora and Akane with their onslaught.

At last, the enemy fell on his knees. The rest of our companions finished killing the Nobodies and the replicas melted like icicles in spring time. The fiend breathed heavily and stared at us with disbelief. He knew he had vastly underestimated us.

"Roxas..." he murmured, as he stared at Sora. "Come back to us..." and with that, he disappeared before our eyes.

"Wait!!" cried Sora. "Come back here, you coward!"

"Damn!" I cursed. But before I got angrier, I noticed a strange glitter on the ground where the fiend had stood. I walked to it and then picked up a strange, round, golden rock which had a billowing cloud with a thunderbolt coming out of it. Once I felt it in my hand, I felt a strange warmth... and my strength came back to me. "He may have gotten away, but at least he dropped this lucky charm."

"Is that the Olympus Stone?" murmured Goofy as he approached me. A second later, I saw his face lighten up; he too had recovered his lost power. "A-hyuck! How about that? I'm feeling better already!"

"This is great!" Donald quacked. "I feel as if I can cast spells forever!"

"That thing sure is handy," added Ken, with a relieved sigh.

"Now we just have to find Meg," said Ryoga. "By now, hopefully Ukyo, Wilheim, Siegfried, and Octavius have made it back into the Coliseum."

"Before we go on, I'd like a quick explanation," Jam announced. "Mostly from Baiken..."

"What do you want?" asked the woman as she reached into her kimono and took out a pipe. I suppose I was through with breathing fresh air...

"How did you know that guy?"

"I didn't. Back in China, a few days after you beat the crap out of Ukyo, she and I ran into two guys that wore the exact same clothes as this jerk. They also had a talking mutt with them; even she wore the same outfit. I figured they were from the same organization."

"Organization XIII," I said. "The enemy, as you may have already guessed."

"Yeah, I thought so," Baiken replied. "They were relatively nice to us back then, but I always had a funny feeling. I guess I was right after all."

"...What do you mean, 'beat the crap out of Ukyo'?" questioned Sora as he glared at Jam.

"Something... it's quite... Now's not the time," she stuttered. "Let's just say it was an episode I'm not very proud of anymore..."

"She's right: now's not the time," I announced. "We have wasted enough time talking. We'll clarify things once we're out of this mess. I reckon we'll have plenty of time to chat."

"This man has good ideas," Baiken said. "Let's keep on going."

With that said, we went back the way we came from. Hades would soon meet us again, only that this time, he would face a very different group than the one he had crushed earlier...

_Narrator: Siegfried_

To think that I had longed to see my big brother so much. You can't possibly imagine how much I wanted to go to his side and yell 'Surprise!' at him. I knew he'd be so happy to see me again. This, of course, wasn't how I'd imagined it. Not at all...

I think I was now beginning to understand the way Wilheim had felt that night, when Magnus had impaled me with his halberd. To see the dying face of Ukyo had been a nightmarish vision. And to think that my brother had had to go through that again devastated me.

But there was still hope... even if it was a fool's hope. And to that, we all chose to hold on. I knew Wilheim would sacrifice himself for her without hesitation... I would do so, too. At first, he was quite reluctant about me accompanying Octavius and him to Kratos's test. After all, he had lived much longer than me and thus felt much older and experienced. Thankfully though, my were-bear friend convinced him that I would be good help. I wasn't going to sit idly with my sister-in-law's life hanging by a thread.

We didn't spend much time talking to Kratos, but we immediately realized that he wasn't anything like the other deity I had met in that world. Hades was a very nasty piece of work, but he was little more than a buffoon; Kratos was everything I'd learned within the books of the many libraries Wilheim and I visited during our days as vampires. Although he was not the God of War where we came from, he certainly behaved like one. He didn't seem to really want to help us. Rather, it was as if it was a task entrusted to him. Perhaps, and if there was some sort of veracity within our Greek mythology, it was something Zeus had commanded him to do. On a second thought, however, the Kratos from our stories would've been more than happy to follow such an order. But that's not the point here...

The moment we agreed to take his test, Kratos teleported us to what seemed to be a very high mountain. Before us was a wooden bridge which led to the most unbelievably colossal structure I had ever seen. It was a massive temple and had a most eerie air to it. The wind blew fiercely and brought with it the smell of blood and fire and steel. This would truly be one hell of a challenge. But no matter the hardships, we would save Ukyo.

Octavius, Wilheim, and I remained still and silent side by side with our eyes nailed to the enormous temple for a while. Kratos stood behind us, but not for long. He just had some words of encouragement for us and... No, 'encouragement' is by far the right word to use. Let's just say he had something to tell us before he left us to our lucks.

"This is the Temple of Pandora," he declared in a grave tone. "It is a place of death and suffering. Yet many warriors came to it and died in hopes of retrieving this accursed place's prize: Pandora's Box."

"Pandora's Box?" asked Octavius. "Is not that the source of all evils? Why was that a prize?"

"Where did you hear that fallacy?" demanded the God of War.

"I must have been misinformed, then," hastily mumbled the were-bear. Wilheim and I chose to remain quiet.

"Only one warrior managed to set hands on it," Kratos went on, no longer paying heed to Octavius's remark. "Me; I'm the only one who managed to reach it. Pandora's Temple no longer holds a prize for anyone to retrieve. Yet now you must prove your worth to me, and must reach its end alive if you want to save your friend again." He paused for a moment and then said: "It's likely that you'll all die. Are you certain you want to go through this?"

"There is not a doubt in my heart," Wilheim firmly answered. "I will beat the dangers within. I will conquer Pandora's Temple if that is what it takes to bring my beloved back."

"We'll see," Kratos said. "You will not make it through the temple using strength alone. You will have to recur to your wits more often than not." Again he stopped speaking for a while. He let out a grumble and added: "I managed to conquer this by myself; but you petty mortals could use one advice: if you are not sure of what to do, kill everything that moves."

"Why the information?" I questioned.

"Zeus commanded me to aid you in any way I could. But if I must lend a hand, then you must prove yourselves worthy. Consider that advice one last gesture of good will. Because – mark my words – not all of you will make it alive – if you do conquer the temple, that is." And with that said, he departed to wherever the gods gathered.

"Pay no heed to him," Octavius suggested. "He is merely trying to frighten us."

"Yeah..." I murmured.

"The Temple of Pandora..." Wilheim mused. "I do not care what he says about it. For my beloved Ukyo, I will shatter it should the need arise."

As I listened to him talk, there was a feeling burning with my chest; something that I had longed to say to him since I saw him hurrying to our help. This was certainly not the right time, but by the look of things, there would be no right time for a long while. I put my hand on his shoulder and said: "I know this is sort of meaningless right now, Wilheim... but I'm glad to be by your side again."

He turned to me and his lips formed a sad, but true smile. He gently grabbed the back of my head as he leaned his brow against mine. I tried to hold back my tears, but I couldn't help but to cry a bit as I felt his touch.

"Do not be mistaken, Siegfried," he whispered softly. "To see you alive has been a gift I had dreamt about ever since that fateful night... To be able to speak to you again fills my heart with joy. My little brother is by my side again... and I will protect you unto the end of the worlds," he concluded and sniveled as he spoke these last words.

We cleaned our tears and smiled quietly. Then, Wilheim took a deep breath and took a step forward. "The temple awaits us," he declared. "Let us prove our worth." And with a nod, we crossed the torturously long wooden bridge.

Wilheim went on ahead of us with great determination. Though our hearts ached, he walked firmly. I had never before seen him more like my bigger brother than at that time. He and I were the same age and we had always been the same height (although these last few months Wilheim had grown much more than me). During our time together I had always been the one who came up with ideas (well, most of them, at least) and he had always been the strong guy. He had always tried to protect me... but was unsuccessful to do so that night. Now that I saw him, I knew we would beat Kratos's challenge. His eyes reflected his experience.

"I have felt a rumbling ever since we set foot on this place," Octavius announced, bringing me back to the present.

"I have felt nothing of the sort," replied my brother dryly without turning around. Nevertheless, I could see he was alert; I was aware that Wilheim had gained quite a reputation for being impulsive and brute when Ukyo was in danger, but he amazingly seemed to have changed that. I suppose he had realized that he would be of greater help if he remained calm and watchful.

"A rumbling? What do you mean?" I asked.

"A steady quake; perhaps too weak to be perceptible by humans such as yourselves. It goes on and on even as we speak as if it were a heartbeat. It is distant, no doubt... It feels much stronger on solid ground than here."

"As long as it stays where it is..."

"And so it may, but we might also head its way, so do not disregard it so lightly."

I took a deep breath and followed Wilheim's lead. We got to the temple's entrance. There was a piece of elevated ground to our right, where a burning monticule lay. As we looked at it more carefully, we realized with disgust that it was a pile of carcasses. Moments later, their stink reached our noses. The smell of rotting, burnt flesh little by little began to turn unbearable. Luckily, the gates were open and there didn't seem to be any cadavers inside. At least not in the first room...

Wilheim approached the stairs that led to the temple's interior and suddenly stopped. He slowly reached for his sword. Octavius and I immediately put ourselves on guard and looked around. But there was no danger about him or me; my brother had discerned an invisible force field that kept him from advancing. He took a step forward and then remained still. And so, unexpectedly, the field's energy became visible and transformed into the head of a fierce dog that, with a roar, tried to bite my brother's head off his body.

"Look out!!" I cried, but Wilheim had already leapt back. He held his sword fiercely, yet didn't pull it out of its scabbard.

"What is this sorcery?" he muttered to himself.

There was a reply to his question: a low rumbling that grew louder and louder. The ground beneath our feet began to shake. I, of course, began to grow nervous. It seemed that our first challenge would arrive soon and I was already beginning to quail in fear. No; I couldn't do that. I shook my head and forced myself to focus. I had to come through, for Ukyo.

"Was this the rumble you were talking about, Octavius?" I asked in a low voice.

"No," answered the were-bear, unsheathing his sword. "This is something different."

From both sides of the bridge, three creatures climbed onto the ground we were on. Three colossal beings stepped on the battlefield; each of them tripled Octavius's height and width. They could easily crush us within their grasp if they felt like it. But it appeared that rather than smashing us with their bare hands, they were willing to use nail-filled clubs. Each of their weapons was as big as us. The monsters' skin was grin as the one of a crocodile. Their mouths were filled with sharp teeth; they glared at us with fury with their only eye and growled as they approached us.

I felt a sudden rush of fear when I looked at the cyclopes. Yet it quickly vanished as Octavius and my brother faced the enemies with valor. Wilheim roared like a wild beast and challenged the monsters.

"Sons of Gaia!!" he bellowed. "You have come to face us, but you will only face your doom! Ready your coins, fiends, for you will soon pay the ferryman to take you to the Underworld!!" It had been forever since I had heard his angry speech; he only spoke like that when he was overcome by rage or fear or sadness (when I had been alive, at least).

The cyclopes answered with thunderous wails and ran at us. We charged at them with equal animosity. They all attacked in the same manner by bringing their clubs down, trying to crush us. Wilheim leapt back with little difficulty, while Octavius and I sidestepped. For my part, I quickly stabbed my foe's hands, yet the blade didn't go further than two inches: the cyclops's bone was as hard as steel and my weapon didn't go through it. I did manage, however, to really piss off the monster, who withdrew his enormous, wounded hand and then slapped me with it. I was quick enough to raise my shield to protect my body from the blow, but was nevertheless sent flying against the temple's walls. I was lucky I wasn't on the other side.

"Siegfried!!" cried Wilheim as he saw me take the hit.

"I'm okay!" I assured, getting back on my feet. The cyclops began to run at me like a maddened bull. I started to feel very nervous once again. My sword could barely hurt the creature... Wilheim had Renamark and Octavius possessed brutal strength. But what did I have?

A rock. A rock lay by my feet, and quite a sharp one at that. I thought of a plan as my eye rested upon it. Without wasting another second, I got a hold of it and prayed that my accuracy would be true. I tossed it at the cyclops and hit the mark: the beast roared as he covered his hurt eye with both hands. However, he didn't stop his charge. With a sudden yell, I promptly rolled out of the monster's way as he hit the wall, making the ground shake with the tremendous impact. He then fell flat on his back, somewhat dizzied by the stupid hit he had just taken. As I saw him lying on the floor, I thought of another plan. I cautiously approached him and instantly stabbed his eye, definitively blinding him. The monster bellowed with rage and tried to grab me, but I quickly leapt away from him and then positioned myself on the edge of the cliff. I then waited for him to get up...

Meanwhile, my brother and the were-bear were doing quite well against their opponents. The cyclops that faced Wilheim had tried to crush him with his club. My brother rolled between his legs and slashed the fiend's legs. Unlike my blade, Renamark easily cut the skin of the creature and made him howl in pain. While he didn't fell to the ground, he did remain still for a few moments as he turned to face Wilheim again. This gave my brother enough time to gather energy to the palms of his hands and then he expelled it in the form of a fireball.

"HADOKEN!!" he roared and the energy wave hit the creature on the stomach. The hardy cyclops was barely hurt by the blow, but the force of the attack had sufficed to knock him down. Once he lay helpless, Wilheim unsheathed Renamark and ran over the monster's body, cutting him length-wise as he went. The blade's lethal flames hastily extinguished the cyclops's life. My brother triumphantly twirled his blade and put it back in its scabbard.

On the other hand, Octavius had previously been unable to counterattack the cyclops that fought against him, because the blows were so brutal that the were-bear had to be on the move constantly. His opportunity at last came when he managed to put his foot down on the beast's club. Rather than pulling his weapon away from Octavius, the cyclops leaned over and tried to grab him. But the were-bear simply pulled out his shotgun and fired at the fiend's eye. The cyclops began to thrash in pain, forcing our companion to step away from him. He remained still, waiting for his chance to strike.

As for me, I had begun to yell at the cyclops that faced me as loud as I could. The creature heard me and his head began to spin in all directions, until at last he discerned where I stood.

"I'm here, stupid! Come and get me, bastard!" I wailed.

The enemy roared and raced at me with blind (literally) anger. I kept on calling to him until he was very close. Seconds before he was upon me, I let out a final cry and rolled aside. The cyclops, again, didn't stop his race and plunged down the cliff, letting out a final roar that faded into silence as he fell.

At last, Octavius saw his opportunity and charged against the monster with the force of a rhinoceros. Like Wilheim with his energy wave, he only succeeded in knocking the enemy down, but once more, that was all that was needed. The were-bear ran to the cyclops's face and buried his katana inside his throat. The enemy tried to cry, but only gurgled up blood instead. Octavius stepped away from the fiend and patiently waited for the monster to drown with his own vital fluid. Not much time passed... about a minute of agony and then the foe fell lifelessly on the ground. And once all three cyclopes had been defeated, the invisible barrier showed itself as it shattered into a thousand pieces.

"Are you all right?" asked Wilheim as he approached me. I nodded and wiped off some sweat from my forehead. "That was impressive: brains over brawn, as always, I see," he added and smiled.

"I do lack your brute strength brother, so I have to improvise," I chuckled.

"Let us go," Octavius urged. "The path is open."

"Yes; let me take the lead," said Wilheim.

We went up the stairs and entered a magnificent hall, with beautiful, mirror-like floors and majestic pillars. There was an enormous, round rock before us, which had many inscriptions. I managed to make out some letters from the Greek alphabet, but my knowledge did not go past that, so I couldn't discern any clues or phrases... Either way, it appeared that we wouldn't be using our brains like Kratos had said anytime soon; as we approached the stone, six shadows appeared and crawled through the ground like snakes. We raised our guards just in time to stop the pairs of blades that suddenly emerged from the ground. After that, these enemies – these wraiths – began to circle each of us. Though they were hideous, these monsters lacked the ferocity of the cyclopes and the immense power, too.

One of them tried to cut Wilheim starting from his head, but my brother effortlessly parried the blow. Before the wraith could react, he punched him on the face. With the wraith's guard down, Wilheim had no difficulty in cutting him apart with furious twirls of his blade. Another phantom promptly attacked him, yet he wasn't much more successful. As the fiend charged at him, my brother spun swiftly on his feet and after avoiding the blow, stabbed the enemy on the neck, killing him instantly.

Octavius didn't have much trouble, either; one furious swing of his blade was all he needed to destroy both opponents. They tried to parry the attack with their blades, but the were-bear's power was beyond peer and shattered their ghostly steel and cut through them in an instant.

I had to improvise once more. Both monsters attacked me from both sides. I evaded their onslaught as best as I could. One of the fiends then tried to cut my neck; I stopped his blades with my shield right about the same time the other one prepared to strike me with his weapons. I instantly threw his companion's blades in his way, throwing both of them momentarily off guard. This gave me enough time to stab the first one in the stomach, thus killing him, and time to ram my shield into the remaining wraith's face, knocking him down as I did. I was about to deliver the final blow, but Octavius, who stood near us, got ahead of me and brought down his foot with massive strength upon the skull of my adversary. That was the end of it.

"I could've managed by myself, you know," I grumbled.

"Perhaps, but I am only trying to get through this quickly," he replied dryly. "You were taking a long time."

"I may have half the muscles, but I've got twice the b—"

"Cut it out," Wilheim interrupted. "We are not here to quarrel amongst ourselves."

There was no more time for reprisals. The immense door before us slid open and showed a new path. Once again, Wilheim took point position and Octavius and I followed him quietly. Normally, I would've remained angry at him; but I understood that I had to focus all my strength on my enemies and not waste it on pointless rage against one of my companions.

The room that followed was an enormous corridor that split into two. Its walls were adorned by some torches and some scriptures in a language completely incomprehensible to any of us. The walls didn't reach the ceiling. By the looks of it, there were other rooms beyond. The path split into two; I really didn't want our little group to separate, but my brother and Octavius were confident of their strength and really wanted to end this quickly.

"We shall take the path on the right," Wilheim declared. "Do you think you can take care of yourself if you take the left, Octavius?"

"I will be fine," the were-bear assured. "Let me know if you find a door to another room."

"Do the same. Come on, Siegfried."

"Okay..." I sighed.

We walked down the path, seeing nothing suspicious. Wilheim kept a close eye on the walls and the floor, but his pace was quick and confident. I remained very close to him, my shield and sword raised and my ears ready. What Octavius had said about the rumbling before we entered the temple had really freaked me. I still didn't hear or feel anything... but who knew? At any second, maybe...

"Some one approaches," murmured Wilheim and raised his blade. We both raised our swords and remained alert. The fiend seemed to have stopped in his tracks as well, because I heard nothing. My brother wasn't willing to wait much longer and with a nod, he beckoned me to attack along with him. We let out a battle cry and raced forth and were instantly confronted by Octavius, who was racing at us with his katana raised over his head. We stopped in our tracks, as did he. "What the blazes...?"

"Where did you run off to?" I asked.

"I just followed the path," Octavius answered. "No doubt we are inside some sort of ring."

"I see..." Wilheim mused. "We saw no door or anything of the sort. What about you?"

"I ran into a very interesting contraption. I was seconds away from calling you, when I heard some footsteps and became alarmed. Yours, no doubt... Follow me, let me show you."

The mechanism Octavius had referred to was a strange lever. He began to push it with all his might and the ground began to move. He kept on pushing and we noticed that a threshold that depicted two women on its columns before us and that had been nothing but another piece of the walls that surrounded us soon became a door to darker way into the temple.

"Marvelous..." Wilheim muttered.

"The guy that built this must've been a true genius," I added.

"Indeed. But enough chatter," Octavius pressed. "Let us move on."

With that said we stepped into the new road and began to explore the immense Temple of Pandora.

It would take me a very, very long time to describe to you all of the rooms that we traversed, all the enemies we defeated, and all the riddles we had to solve. The temple, simply put, was a monstrously huge building that didn't seem to have an end. Every room we set foot in had hordes of foes waiting to slaughter us, not to mention that the whole damn place was riddled with traps. It didn't take us too long to realize that we were gambling our lives in each stance. And everywhere we looked, there were the corpses of all those men who had tried to best the temple before us. Their stench filled the air and their rotting figures provided a most ghastly spectacle.

Things outside the temple and at its entrance had even led me to believe that this challenge would actually be easy. Now, I was starting to believe in Kratos's words... I was beginning to doubt that I would make it out of the temple alive. Either way, I decided not to tell them anything. My older brother was under enough pressure as it was.

After some of our most pressing battles, we found some interesting items. We decided to take them with us; they could prove useful in the future; and so they did. But, like I said, getting them was no easy task. The rooms that held them were especially infested with beasts of all sorts and deadly traps. Let me tell you about, what in my opinion was, the deadliest stance we faced...

We had arrived to a room where a huge statue of Atlas stood before us. It appeared that it was a clue into getting further into the temple. A lever soon confirmed our beliefs, but its handle was missing and there was no force on the world capable of turning the mechanism without it. We decided to search for it and our footsteps soon guided us to a cliff. There was a rope hanging above our heads which led to a high room. We got a hold of it and quickly climbed.

The room had many carvings in its walls and a low ceiling. We noticed that it only had one entrance, which was also its exit. The place reeked of death: there was a trap inside, for sure. But what kind of trap, we had no idea. We readied our arms and stepped onto the room's wooden floor. And once all of us were inside that death-box, an evil barrier blocked our way out. It was then that we noticed that there was a pedestal before us, and on it, was the missing handle to the lever we had seen rooms before, yet it was now also protected by an evil veil. We heard a noise and realized that there were six gears placed on the wooden floor's corners and they were all turning. It was not until then that we came to see that, to our dismay, the floorboards themselves were a gate to certain death.

"Oh, shit!!" I exclaimed, beginning to panic.

"Stay calm and focus!" said Wilheim. As he finished saying this, undead warriors and women with beautiful bodies and long, dark hair emerged from the ground and began to attack us. The latter creatures sang with a sweet, almost hypnotizing voice. Once more, I remembered the books that I had read during my days as a vampire and knew they were sirens. This, coupled with the growing speed of the gears' torque luckily kept me from falling under their spell.

The floor trembled, making as all fall down. The gate to hell wanted to open... It only needed more time. Its success would mark our demise; we had to hurry.

Wilheim, who had been hiding his sword from his enemies during our previous fights (thus attacking more intelligently and precisely), decided to momentarily forget about his technique and began to swing Renamark with tremendous fury. He massacred many monsters with his blows – more than he used to with his other methodic technique – but sustained many cuts and bruises. Nothing at all fatal, of course...

Octavius didn't act different from my older brother. With his immense power, he too destroyed many a foes with each of his attacks. Yet, although he was used to strike like this, pressure rendered him careless and was hurt as well. Unfortunately, like I had said before, I didn't have that much power within me.

Fortunately, I did come up with a method for taking out my opponents, but it only worked on the undead warriors; since these were eager to attack, I had only to wait for them to strike once with their jagged blades. I blocked these blows with my shield and countered with a swift stab to their necks. Block, stab; block, stab; block, stab... I was amazed at how well I was doing. In fact, I was the only one that hadn't gotten hurt so far.

But the sirens were deadly foes. They had the reflexes of a snake and could easily evade Octavius's and my older brother's blows with little difficulty, and they were the only ones that could actually kill them, because, when one of them saw me approaching, they would let a rain of magical, evil projectiles rain upon me and would force me to hide behind my shield. From time to time, either one of my friends would take advantage of a siren distracted by my proximity to her, and would slaughter her before she realized she was being targeted by another enemy. Despite this, though, the gears' speed kept growing and the floor began to shake over very small periods of time.

Our desperation was evident. The sirens began to merely keep away from us and wait until the moment of our death arrived. They were too fast for us to catch them by just running to them. I really had no idea of what to do... but thankfully, Wilheim thought of something.

"Hold on to something, now!!" he yelled. "After I am finished, slay them before they can get up!"

"What the hell do you mean?!" I asked as he sheathed Renamark and began to gather energy...

"Do as he says!" Octavius cried. He grabbed me and took me to a nearby wall. He held onto one of the thin pillars and held me by my shirt. I grabbed the pillar too, but turned to my brother, who stood in the center of the room, still reuniting power...

"Wilheim!!" I cried. I feared that the floor would yield and that I would have to see him fall to his death, only to follow him.

"Got it," he murmured to himself and then unleashed his power in the form of a spinning kick which created a terrifically strong current of air. "SHINKU TATSUMAKISENPUUKIAKU!!"

I yelled loudly as the gales turned into a ferocious hurricane that dragged everything to its center. I was unable to hold on to the pillar, but Octavius held on. I grabbed his torso and waited for the storm to be over. The sirens, however, were not as lucky. Their speed didn't suffice to keep them out of the hurricane's eye. The currents of air hauled them to my brother, who repeatedly kicked them with his strong foot.

I don't know how much that lasted. But after what seemed to be a freaking eternity, the tempest ended and Octavius and I fell to the ground, exhausted. Yet the gears kept turning and the floor began to creak.

"Kill them...!" my brother cried weakly. I got up and unsheathed my blade as I turned around.

Wilheim lay on the center of the room and all over the place, were the sirens, all knocked down, all nearing unconsciousness. But they were not dead, and we had to make them dead or else we would be. Octavius and I ran through the room as fast as we could, cutting off the creatures' heads without giving them a chance to stand up. They were too weak to fight back...

At last, I beheaded the last monster... and the gears stopped and the floor became still. I fell on my knees as both barriers shattered, my heart nearly pounding out of my chest while cold sweat covered my forehead.

"Oh, God...!" I exclaimed. "Holy... Crap; that was a close, close call..." I crawled to Wilheim, who still lay on the ground. "Wilheim... brother, are you okay?"

"I am worn out," he replied. "I had never employed a technique as powerful as that... I can barely move."

"You have progressed much, Wilheim," Octavius said as he walked to us. "Yet you have much to learn before you can dominate Ryu's greatest skills. They demand much strength and concentration and you lack both."

"Strength I can gather," my brother said. "And it is hard to concentrate with a floor that beckons you to hell with every passing second. I know I am not fit to toy with powers such as those, but I had no other choice."

"We're alive, aren't we?" I added.

"I cannot argue with that," the were-bear admitted. "I will take a hold of the handle. I suppose we can let you recover your strength and then move on."

"I will recover it on the way to Atlas's statue," Wilheim answered and forced himself to his feet. "I will not rest until my darling is in my arms."

"Remember that there are lots of traps..." I said.

"I said I could barely move; not that I was completely incapacitated, Siegfried." My brother had always been somewhat stubborn. And being Ukyo's life that which was at stake, there was simply no reasoning with him and Octavius knew this, too.

"Very well," the were-bear said. "If you will not rest, then let us move on. Try to take heart," he added, glancing at me. "Our quest will be no doubt riddled with much more of these 'close calls'."

Once we returned to the room with the huge stature of Atlas and with the proper leverage, the god made of rock threw the immense round stone he carried on his back and opened a new path for us. We stepped into the temple's outdoors and reached a platform with a lonely coffin. There was nothing around us but that sarcophagus. It was a platform in the middle of nowhere, as if our quest had suddenly come to its end. I really wanted to believe that was the case, but it would've only been too easy (too easy... yeah, right).

"What do we do now?" I asked. "Unless this coffin has some sort of key on it, I don't think we'll be able to go any farther. Maybe this is the finish line..."

"If only it was," Wilheim sighed with a dry smile. "No, I do believe that there is a key here. But where, exactly?"

"Not 'on'... in..." Octavius murmured.

"What do you mean, in? Inside of the coffin?" I blurted out. "Are you serious? I mean, unless the guy was shaped like a key in real life, I doubt his bones will do us much good."

"Not one of the items we have used so far to make our way even remotely resemble a traditional key. I also failed to mention something I saw when we were in that corridor that had the shape of a ring. There was a door that had the shape of a skull. There were no knobs; I tried to force it open but was unsuccessful. Still, I did notice there was small hole in it... just about the size of a regular, human skull."

Wilheim and I looked at each other and understood what he was talking about. We pushed the lid open and revealed a skeleton. His hands were folded on top of his empty chest, his clothes elegantly arranged, and his jaws wide open. Oh, and let's not forget about the god-forsaken stink. Jeez, it reeked like nothing I'd smelled. The stench of decomposition and death locked up in that box for who knew how many years could just get the best out of anyone. At least the temple's innards were big and there were plenty of places for the carcasses' stench to go to.

Octavius became our surgeon. Without the slightest touch of gentleness, he put his hands on the skeleton's skull and began to pull with all his might. The head was still firmly attached to the body. Nevertheless, after a matter of seconds, we heard a crack and our friend showed us the skull that was now in his possession. There were still a few chunks of flesh hanging to the cheekbones and hair on the back of his head.

"Gross..." I muttered, keeping my eye and nose away from the skull.

"I found a tablet," Wilheim declared. "It states that this is the tomb of the Architect's son, who died during the construction of the building. I suppose they refer to the child of the man who built this temple. And if that is so, then the Architect must have had extremely macabre thoughts haunting his mind. The skull of his son serves as a key?"

"You've just figured out that this Architect was a sick man? If he's the man that really built this place, that itself makes him a colossal son of a bitch."

"Again, we discuss meaningless matters when all that we must concern ourselves about is getting through the temple," Octavius intervened. "You especially, should be eager to move on, Wilheim."

"Of course I am. I only made a remark, but I am ready to go forth..." He paused as he noticed that there was an opening on the ground, just below the coffin. He pushed it aside and revealed a secret passage. "Perhaps this will take us to the ring, where you saw the door."

"Let us find out," Octavius said.

The passage way led us to a small chamber where a quiet lake was. On one of the walls, there were two golden statues that held each a fragment of a golden piece with a white crystal in its center. There was also a lever nearby that seemed to be able to move said figures. Octavius applied force to it and the figures came together; a ray of white light emerged from the crystal and illuminated the corridor before us. The latter contained walls riddled with spikes that closed violently, crushing the already broken bones of many cadavers that had been trapped by them. Still, their pattern was predictable and we made it through the corridor safely just as the beam of light disappeared and the golden statues returned to their place.

We entered a familiar stance: like Wilheim had predicted, we had returned to the ring corridor. It didn't take us long to find the door that Octavius had spoken about. Indeed, it had the shape of a giant skull and had a hole in its 'forehead', just large enough to fit a cranium. Our friend carefully put the 'key' in its place and a new path opened. We made our way into another corridor that also had the shape of a ring. But before we could begin to carefully explore this new stance, we gawped in alarm at an enormous roller that threatened to squash us. Without a second thought, we began to run away from it as fast as our feet could carry us.

"Are we just going to run away from this thing forever?!" I cried.

"There has to be a way to get around it!" Wilheim answered.

He was right; before long, we found stairs that led us to the top of the innermost wall. We raced through them and could finally get a breather as the roller raced past us.

We could see the outermost ring we had been in when we had first begun our quest and there was also a circular chamber below us, flooded to the very top. A giant statue stood proudly at the center. Don't trust me too much on this, but I think it was Zeus's bust. And under the water, on one of the walls that formed the figure of the mighty god, was another skull-door. Now we had no doubt that there was another dead body for us to find.

There was apparently no way to go. But as we studied our surroundings more carefully, we noticed a tunnel within the water-filled chamber and there were also wooden stairs hanging by one of the walls. However, reaching it meant we would have to ride the roller and then jump onto them, and it's not like I was very agile. Hell, neither of us was, I think.

Nevertheless, in the end, after much deliberation, we decided that we would take on the dangerous task of using the instrument of death as a steed. Wilheim claimed that he possessed some Underwater Materia that Cloud had given him during the last adventure and that he could walk and breathe underwater as if he were on ground. But we didn't know how deep the tunnel went and... Well, to be quite honest, I didn't know how to swim. Magnus had killed me before I got to see an ocean or a lake or whatever...

"We will have to deal with the water later," Wilheim said. "For now, let us get to those stairs."

And so we rode the roller and surprisingly found out that it wasn't as brutally dangerous as we thought. Before long, each of us had climbed the stairs and were running through a cave to open ground... to what appeared to be an arena.

The road led to a mountainside path. Yet before we could go on, that hated barrier appeared before us. Knowing that enemies would soon appear, we prepared for battle. Seconds later, our first opponent appeared: a horrendous pup with fiery eyes walked to us and growled menacingly. We remained still for a moment, unsure of what this opponent could do. Pretty soon we realized that to remain idle had been a huge mistake.

The puppy started to grow amazingly fast and developed two more heads. Its faces turned from creepy to downright horrifying. Rows and rows of teeth shone with the sun, threatening to tear us apart. The Cerberus offspring looked like it was a tough nut to crack. Of course, while the fiend was larger than the three of us put together, it was just a dwarf-version of the real Underworld guardian. But that didn't mean we felt safer fighting it.

"Not again..." I whined.

"Let us see how this pup handles the warriors that defeated its progenitor twice," Octavius growled.

We threw ourselves (reluctantly, for my part, at least) against our opponent. The dog leapt back and spit potent fireballs against us. I used my shield to protect myself from the attack. I didn't end up being burnt to a crisp, but the impact of the projectile did send me flying across the arena. I was lucky I didn't fall down the cliff we were standing on. Wilheim and Octavius did much better than I. With furious swings, they forced the beast back against one of the arena's walls. Cerberus's offspring tried to bite their legs off every time they left themselves open, but my friends strategically leapt away from its teeth, and I say strategically because they always remained close enough to score an attack should the chance arise.

I began to feel that I was unnecessary at that moment, yet an unexpected growl behind me made me realize that there was still work to be done. Another puppy had leapt into the arena. I knew that it had to go before it began to grow into one of those monsters. I dashed to it and tried to skewer it with my sword, but the little critter dodged my blade and charged against me. Its jaws closed upon my leg and nearly trapped it, but luckily enough, I escaped with only a scratch.

The vile creature stepped back and began to twitch and growl. I knew what was coming. I had to stop the damn thing before he grew into another one of those jumbo-sized monsters. Seeing that I had no other tool nearby, I was forced to throw my shield at the beast. That knocked it down and stopped it from growing for a second. I immediately ran to it and stabbed it before my window of opportunity was over. That was the end for it and I was quite relieved. But before I could celebrate, three more puppies jumped into the arena and quickly surrounded me.

"Goddamn mutts!" I snorted. Luckily, by that time, Wilheim had cut off the big dog's heads and Octavius was shooting at other packs of puppies that were trying to make their way into the arena.

My brother ran to my shield and kicked it to me so I could be able to fend off the beast at least for a few seconds. The little critters started to attack; it was very hard for me to stop all their blows. I was bit a few times, but managed to quickly stab the monsters before they did any real damage. Wilheim helped me with some of those pups while Octavius kept himself busy with the other creatures.

Before long, we defeated all of our foes and the barrier disappeared. However, we had all been hurt and now had many cuts and bruises all over our bodies. While they weren't fatal by themselves, we were losing blood. We needed all the strength we could get. There were no potions; nothing to heal our wounds. However, Wilheim thought of a very unpleasant method for at least stopping the blood from flowing out of ourselves...

"This is going to be nasty," he muttered to himself as Renamark began to growl and flames engulfed its steel. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he pressed his sword against one of his wounds. A disgusting sizzling noise followed that. Wilheim held back his scream, yet tears still escaped his eyes. However, he had successfully cauterized one of his wounds. And so he kept on doing that with every one of his cuts. "I must cauterize your wounds, Siegfried. I need you to hold still."

"Oh, God..." I muttered as I held out my leg. I ripped a piece of my shirt and bit down on it as hard as my jaw allowed me to. My brother then pressed the blade against me. The pain I felt right then can only be compared to the one that assaulted me when Octavius went berserk and bit my face. It was as if the most potent poison had been injected in my veins. I let out a muffled wail as my hands turned to tight fists. My scorched flesh bled no more, but God, it hurt worse than before. The pain would have to pass, I supposed... eventually. And the worst part was that that had only been one wound.

After what I think had been the most agonizing minutes of my life (since I had been reborn), Renamark's flames finally closed all of my cuts. It had been a terrible experience. Even Octavius let out a pain-filled growl once or twice. But as awful as that may've been, at least we weren't bleeding anymore. We could go on with our quest and hope that we wouldn't have to go through this again, even though chances were we would have to make another stop to cauterize some more cuts...

We fought against a pair of giant cyclopes and a group of undead archers. Wilheim and Octavius made quick work of the sluggish giants; as for the bow-wielding foes, there was an enormous block nearby that protected us from the arrows as we pushed our way into the middle of the fiends. I was the first to come out of our hiding place and used my shield to fend off the projectiles that aimed at my body. I hastily killed the creatures that attacked me, while my brother and the were-bear destroyed the rest of them. Then, we climbed onto an elevator that took us to a lower level. There, we faced two fearsome minotaurs. Octavius took care of one of them while I distracted the other one long enough for Wilheim to deliver a deadly stab. We then discerned a climbable wall that lead to higher ground. Yet before I started to escalate it, my attention was caught by a huge chain on the side of the cliff before us.

"Hey... didn't that thing just rattle?" I muttered.

"I do not think it did," Wilheim said as he began to climb the wall. "It matters not. Let us move on, Siegfried. Stop concerning yourself with such nonsense."

"I'm telling you that that thing—there it goes again!"

"I believe he is right, Wilheim," Octavius intervened. "Yet I do not suppose it would make much of a difference. Come, Siegfried: there is still much to do."

"I'll go in a second..." I answered as I approached the precipice and looked down. When I did, I remained quiet for a few moments and felt all the blood from my face leave. I think it went straight to my legs, urging me to get away from that horrifying scenery. Nevertheless, before I could turn tail and run, a shrill shriek came out of my throat. "Guys!! Guys!! Come take a look at this!!"

Wilheim and Octavius immediately climbed down and raced to my side. When they saw what I had laid eyes upon, they too became pale and for a few moments were unable to make any sound other that an amazed gasp that was instantly carried away by the wind.

Below us, crawled a giant. The chain that I had seen was one of many that attached the temple to his back. His flesh was dry and had many cracks upon it like a rock that's been assaulted by the desert winds for centuries. The giant advanced steadily, torturously; eternally dragging his hands and legs across an endless wasteland which lay silent, only disturbed by the howling winds that attacked the poor beast without any mercy.

"In the name of Heaven..." Wilheim whispered hoarsely. "What... what is that thing?"

"Judging from its size, I dare to say it is a Titan," Octavius answered in an even lower voice.

"But it cannot be; the Titans were locked away in the Tartarus..."

"In our mythology, they were," I said. "Not here..."

"Besides, we fought against two Titans last time we were here, remember, Wilheim?" added the were-bear.

"Yes, now that you mention it, I do recall fighting against a giant made from rock and an ice monster the size of a mountain," my brother realized.

"I don't suppose he wants to kill us?" I murmured.

"No; we are that beast's burden – not its enemies," Octavius said.

"The temple must be chained to its back for some reason," Wilheim mused. "But now is not the time to think about it. We must get a move on. We will deal with it, if the time comes."

There were no more discussions about the monster. We made our way to the next chamber without saying another words. Still, the sight of that poor giant would haunt my mind for a long while afterwards...

We came upon a large corridor where many cages hung from the ceiling. As we approached them, we noticed they started to move. We branded our weapons and expected another ambush; but instead of an attack, we received a call for help.

"Get us out of here!" cried a voice. "Please! Help us!"

"What in the world...?" I murmured.

"Mercy! Mercy, travelers!" begged another one. "Please, save us from this prison! Help us return home!"

We didn't lower our guards just then. Without saying so, we all decided to approach cautiously to the cages to take a better look. And once we were close enough, we saw that many warriors – living human beings – were locked away in these cages like birds on hanging prisons. They shook desperately and wailed for help. For a moment, I reckon that neither of us believed their eyes. How could there be living men there, still? Didn't Kratos say that all of them had died? Why were these prisoners here?

"Calm down!" Wilheim shouted back as he finally sheathed his sword. "We will get you out of there!"

"Thank you, merciful travelers!" cried one of the men, clasping his hands together in gratitude.

"There seems to be a mechanism for lowering the cages," Octavius announced. "But we face the same problem once again; the handle is missing."

"It's farther ahead!" shouted another prisoner. "Go up that pendant and you'll find it in that room!"

"Okay, then let's go," I urged. "Hang on, fellows! We'll get you down!"

"Thank you!" they repeated.

We quickly made our way to the chamber the trapped soldiers had talked about. There was a contraption unlike anything we'd seen before. We didn't activate it right then, because we were a bit fearful about what may happen. After all, there was a dead body in that chamber with us. We sure as hell didn't want to end up like him.

Wilheim approached the cadaver in order to see if he could figure out what had killed him. It seemed that the carcass held a note. My brother took it and tried to read it, but failed.

"I cannot understand this letter," he declared. "I can only make out some words, but nothing else."

"Let me take a look at it," Octavius said and took the piece of paper. He translated it immediately: "'What the Gods have asked, no man can do.'"

"What do you suppose that means?" asked Wilheim, worried that we might be unable to carry on.

"There's an inscription here," I quickly said, hoping that it would be a clue to help us go on. I pointed at the words, which were carved on a statue that depicted Poseidon (I think). Octavius approached and translated this writing too.

"'In order to move on, the Gods demand sacrifice.'"

We looked at each other, unsure of what the inscription meant... Let me rephrase that: we were desperately trying not to believe what the inscription said. Sacrifice? Maybe they meant one of the monsters that had attacked us, or something of the sort. Or maybe it was just a sick joke. Yeah, we thought: it had to be a joke.

"How do they expect...?" Wilheim muttered but was unable to finish the sentence.

Octavius grabbed the nearby skeleton and placed it, along with a bit more extra weight provided by boxes, on the pedestal before us. The machinery started to move. Two large blocks moved forward and surrounded the weight; seconds later, they faced the dead warrior and lit its carcass on fire. The heat was so extreme that we had to leap back because of the sudden pain we felt on our skins... And after burning the cadaver to a crisp, both blocks rolled back to their places. The path remained closed to us.

We were unable to find any words to speak for a while. We kept studying the situation, trying to figure out what to do. It was obvious that the way forth wouldn't show itself... unless the gods' thirst for blood was quenched. That was why there was still life inside the temple; those trapped warriors were all potential sacrifices to appease the rage of the deities. The thought of dragging one of those cages with one of those guys and watching him burn...

"Oh, dear Lord..." I murmured and sat down. I felt very dizzy all of a sudden.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Wilheim asked. "I refuse to sacrifice one of those soldiers. I will not murder another innocent soul! It was my promise to God and I intend to keep it this time!"

"Then what will we do?" Octavius said. He tried to sound firm and dry, as always, but I noticed his voice actually quailed. "We will not be able to save Ukyo if we do not do as the inscription says. The gods demand sacrifice from us all..."

"Octavius..." I intervened, approaching him. "Are you ready to drag one of those cages with a live soldier inside, place him on the mechanism, and watch him burn to death?"

He didn't answer. He merely took a deep breath and faced the other way. And it was then that I realized that Kratos had been right: one of us would have to give his life in order for the rest to go on. My heart sank and my mouth dried. A familiar fear invaded my heart as the scent of death flooded the air.

Out of the three of us, Octavius was the one, I should think, with the coldest blood, and not even he would dare to assassinate one of the captive warriors. One of us would have to march into that curtain of flames and let them burn the very flesh off our bones. A horrible way to die...

It was too late to turn back. And even if it wasn't, neither Wilheim nor I, at least, would abandon the mission. But we weren't willing to ask another one of us to sacrifice himself. After a few seconds, the inevitable happened: my brother took off his headband and removed his sword from his back and handed them to me.

"Siegfried..." he murmured in a low, frightened voice. "The headband is yours. I took it when you died and have used it since. Keep it... Renamark, however, is Ukyo's. Give it to her, along with my undying love..." Like hell I was going to let him do that.

"Like hell I'm going to let you do that. I'll go, Wilheim. I already went through this once—"

"Precisely, and I am not letting you die again. I promised you that I would look out for you."

"This isn't looking out for me: this is committing suicide for me!"

"And if there is no other way, then so be it! I will not ask you to take my place; I began this and if there is one person who should put an end to his life, it should be me!"

"You insist on looking after me. How the hell are you supposed to do that dead?!"

"How the blazes can I claim to take care of you if I let you saunter into Death's arms?!"

Infinite fear and tension made us irrational and our discussion became more and more intense. I don't remember ever verbally engaging my brother before. Maybe once or twice, but over less than serious matters, for sure. Whatever the case, we both instantly stopped as we saw Octavius take a step towards the death machine.

"Wow, wow! Hold it there!" I yelled, stepping in front of him.

"You must have lost your mind if you think you are going to step on that pedestal!" Wilheim added.

"Do you still insist on arguing?" Octavius refuted. "If you keep this up, we will remain here forever, idiotically insisting on being burned by those flames and Ukyo will linger in the Underworld in doubt, waiting for a salvation that will never come."

"But I cannot let you do this!" my brother insisted.

I was thinking of shoving him aside, but apparently, he read my mind and grabbed my arm. Then, he pushed me against Wilheim, making us take a few steps back. We were about to rush to him and get him away from the machine, yet he unsheathed his katana and pointed it at us.

"Stay where you are," he growled. "I have had it with your games."

"Get away from that thing!" I cried, but I couldn't even make myself take out my sword.

"You forget that this mission may bring us no reward," the were-bear went on without minding us. "Ukyo may very well be irrevocably dead. But Kratos said she might still be lingering in the Underworld. I will go there and so I shall wait as well."

"But... if that's true... you might not..." I began to say, but it was simply too hard for me to find the words.

"Finish the quest," he said firmly. "Finish it... or we will make the final travel together, and I cannot take that luxury now: my true mission is far from over." And with that said, he stepped on the pedestal and the mechanism began to move.

"NO!!" we both yelled and took a step forth, but Octavius's still was still bright and menacing and kept us from moving another inch.

"If all else fails..." he concluded, sheathing his sword as the blocks closed in about him. "Look for Gabrielle. I need to complete my mission." And then, the deafening sound of the intense flames scorching our friend's flesh was all that I could hear.

"NO, NO, NO!!" I wailed and looked away. He was unable to withstand the pain quietly and began to emit load groans. I covered my ears, but I could still hear his agonizing voice and I could still listen to his flesh burn like wood struck by lightning. I couldn't believe what was happening. It seemed unreal...

Tears escaped my eye as the roaring of the fire finally stopped. I dared to turn around and open my eyelids. Where Octavius had once stood, there was now an empty pedestal and the door to a new chamber had opened. There was no visual trace of our friend; only the smell of his scorched skin remained, making me want to puke. In fact, I was unable to hold it for much longer. I vomited and afterwards leaned against a wall, defeated, devastated... Wilheim walked to me and put his hand on my shoulder. I saw that he was crying too, but he remained silent and hadn't lost control as horribly as me.

At that moment, we heard footsteps behind us and raised our guards. Kratos stood before us with an inexpressive look on his face. The mere sight of him made me forget about the pain and the sadness. Rage burned within me and I immediately ran at him with anger itching in my fists. I didn't mean to drive my sword through him: just give him a good punch.

"Son of a bitch!!" I wailed. "Why did you—?!" no more words came out of my mouth, for Kratos effortlessly grabbed me by my throat and began to squeeze.

"Siegfried!!" wailed Wilheim. "Let him go!"

As an answer, Kratos threw me against my brother with the force of an elephant. We crashed against a nearby wall and fell on the ground. I coughed and did my best to get back on my feet (with my brother's help, that is).

"You were the ones who begged to take this challenge," Kratos said in a low, menacing voice. "You knew this could happen: don't come whining to me, weakling!"

"You... bastard..." I muttered and was about to race at him again, but Wilheim grabbed my arm and pulled me back, practically sitting me down.

"Stay, Siegfried," he said.

"It's his fault Octavius is now dead, too!" I roared in a husky voice. Then, I coughed a few more times before I went on. "I'm tired of being a coward! For too long I endured Magnus's malice! I'm not about to that with him! Not again!"

"I am not asking you to be a coward; I am asking for a little prudence!" my brother replied.

"Listen to your friend, boy," Kratos growled. "You stand no chance against me. You're just a mere mortal: you can't beat a God."

"Son of a—"

"Enough," Wilheim interrupted.

"I knew you wouldn't have the guts to kill one of those soldiers," the God of War said. "That's why I knew at least one of you would die."

"Can he be saved?" my brother asked. "Can we recover him? Like my beloved?"

"As with the girl, it's possible," Kratos admitted, finally calming down. "But only if you two make it through. And believe me: you still have a long way to go."

"Will we have to make another sacrifice? I do not ask you to tell us what dangers lie ahead... Just let us know that much, please."

Kratos hesitated for a second, yet then he took a deep breath and answered: "No. If any of you or if you both die, it will be utter failure and nothing more."

"...Do we have a chance?" I managed to ask. I still wanted to kick his ass, but at least I gathered enough patience to ask that much.

"Perhaps," he answered. "You might be mortals, but your skills are impressive. You might get far." With that said, he began to walk away. But before he exited the chamber, he turned around: he was holding the lever's handle in one of his hands. He tossed it at us and added: "I suppose you'll be the first to free the soldiers, then. It would be a shame to leave them to rot after what your friend just did." And so he disappeared.

We remained still for a while, catching our breaths, readying ourselves for the next round, and trying to get the image of our dying friend off our heads... At long last, Wilheim cleared his throat and grabbed the handle.

"Let us go," he said.

"Okay..." I mumbled.

"We will get Octavius back. Rest assured of that."

"How can you be so—?"

"We will get him back," Wilheim resolutely repeated. "And we will save my Ukyo, too..." I silently prayed for him to be right. Without Octavius, things would be three times more difficult...

We got back to the corridor where the soldiers impatiently awaited our return. We put the handle in its place and activated the mechanism, thus lowering the first cage. With a heavy swing, Wilheim destroyed the prison's bars. The warrior got on his knees and grabbed our hands.

"Mercy! Thank you! Thank you so much! May the blessings of the Gods fall upon you!" he sobbed. "Let us go... come on! Let us return together!"

"We can't... we have a mission to fulfill," I murmured.

"Nothing is worth more than your lives! Come on, let us leave!"

"Yes; there are things more important than my life," Wilheim said in a low, sad voice.

"Weren't... weren't there three of you?" mumbled the soldier.

"Our friend gave his life so we could risk ours in this temple of death."


	9. Chapter 8: Neverending Struggles

Hey, guys.

I can't think of anything to say this time... so I just hope you'll enjoy the chapter. See you next time (which will be soon, I hope).

Bye :)

_Chapter Eight: __Never-ending Struggles_

_Narrator: Felicia_

I must say that, although we'd gotten our hands on the Olympus Stone and now we felt much more secure as we marched through the dark corridors of Hades's lair, I was feeling very nervous. Three things kept me edgy: firstly, Adrian and Baiken. I knew the vampire only wanted to joke around like usual and his goofs were usually much appreciated. This time, however, he was facing a woman whose picture was next to the definition of 'intolerance' in the dictionary. And she didn't joke around: if she said she'd kick your sorry butt, she'd kick your sorry butt. I think that, at that time, Adrian sort of believed that she barked a lot and didn't bite at all. Or maybe he just didn't care. I'm no doctor, but I think he really is clinically insane... Sure, I bet you guys think it was funny to see the vampire repeatedly piss off Baiken by merely staring at her with his 'I'm about to cause a calamity' smile, yet trust me: you weren't there. But he was having fun, alright...

Anyway, the second thing that had me worried was our lost friends. I truly regretted having left Ukyo and Wilheim on that mountain. They hadn't gotten to the Coliseum by the time we left. I had remained calm at the moment, but now I felt that I would freak out. And they weren't the only ones that had me biting my claws (just an expression, of course); I was also worried sick about Siegfried and Octavius. I knew the first wasn't half as strong as Wilheim, even though Sora and the others assured that he had become an excellent fighter. Whatever the case, no matter their words, I was still concerned. And about Octavius... well, I guess you could say that was the third issue.

I had no idea of how to feel regarding Octavius. For one part, I really wanted to see him again. It's no news that I sort of had feelings for him (even Goofy could figure that out, and that's saying something. He's adorable and a real gentleman, but someone didn't do their job right when assembling his attic... even though he had become much smarter). With that said, imagine how I felt like when he hadn't even looked for me during the past six months. I didn't exactly give him my phone number; I'll give you that. But come on! He could've at least tried to look me up or something... It's obvious I was pissed at him, huh? That's the thing: I wasn't sure if I was going to slap him (possibly carelessly forgetting to retract my claws) or kiss him when I saw him. Again, I had remained quiet and tranquil when I'd learned about him being in that place (well, half-quiet)... however, now things were stirring inside of me and about to drive me nuts. Not Adrian-nuts, but pretty crazy, nonetheless...

Heck, not even the Heartless, which constantly attacked us, managed to keep my mind busy. I attacked on mere reaction and wasn't doing exactly good. I got wounded a lot of times. Luckily, Donald was all better now and hastily healed me without much effort or problem. Pretty soon, though, it was very evident that I was messing up. Baiken was the one who noticed this first and so, after we had defeated another group of Heartless, she approached me and said, with her usual gentleness:

"Are you turning stupid too, Clark?" Let me tell you: if she hadn't caught me off guard, I would've punched her or something... Well, perhaps not. After all, she was already mad...

"It's just that I have a lot on my mind," I simply replied.

"What's wrong, Felicia?" asked Sora with concern.

"Well, everything," I said. "Our friends are still missing and we're in this God-forsaken place. I can't say I feel too good about it, you know." Of course I left out the other details. I really didn't feel like messing with Baiken. She was a race car in the red and you don't want to have a race car in the red.

"We will have to worry about them later, Felicia," Leon intervened. "Right now, we need to focus on saving Meg. Hercules is counting on us. I'm sure our friends will be just fine."

"So get your head out of your ass and start putting some heart into the fights," Baiken snarled. Yep, she was still very tense and pissed. But nothing prepared me for Adrian's untimely interjection...

"Yeah, Felicia!" he said in his usual mocking tone. "You're not helping anyone! What's the matter with you?"

"That's it," Baiken murmured as she turned around and walked towards the vampire with an enraged pace, hand on the hilt of her blade. I quickly put myself between them, though Adrian had already leapt to the ceiling and hung from there like the mischievous bat he is, laughing innocently.

"Easy!" I said to Baiken. "He wasn't talking to you!"

"He was trying to piss me off and you know it and he goddamn succeeded in it!!" she roared. I'd seen her mad before, but this time, one could say the infamous brow-vein was showing. "Better tell Bozo the fucking clown that if he doesn't shut the fuck up, I'm going to cut out his fucking tongue and then force him to swallow it whole!!"

"But I'm such a nice guy!" Adrian yelled from the ceiling. How he loved to play with fire...

"Goddamn it!" Baiken bellowed. "He's just as annoying as that fucking smurf who's always handing out bomb-presents!"

"Here's a gift for you!!" the vampire exclaimed in a high-pitched voice, mimicking the cartoon character our irritable friend had just referred too and laughed again, and this time, he wasn't the only one...

Jam had also let out a few giggles, which in turn, pissed Baiken even more. She walked to her and then stood still right in front of her, glaring at her with unadulterated fury.

"Something funny, Marmalade Jam?" she hissed in a low voice. I was really afraid that she would try to hurt her...

"The analogy was funny, that's all," Jam answered innocently. She didn't seem to be the least scared, which made me even more nervous.

"Are you mocking me?" Baiken asked on the verge of exploding. The rest of our companions were truly frozen by the scene and I was unsure of whether I should intervene or not...

"No, no: I'm laughing with you," Jam replied and smiled just like Adrian. Their irreverence was beyond precedents.

"Do I look like I'm laughing?"

"How can you know? Have you ever laughed before?" Adrian shamelessly exclaimed from the ceiling... Yeah, laugh it up: you weren't the referee no one listens to.

"GET DOWN HERE!!" Baiken bellowed, losing all patience, her hand gripping her sword fiercely.

"Heartless!!" the vampire laughed, as he pointed at our backs. "The Heartless are coming!!"

We dared to turn around and we saw that he wasn't joking. A large group of Heartless ran wildly at us. Let me tell you something: no one has ever had a more timely arrival. I truly loved them at that moment. It was a shame we had to kill them right then...

And things turned out to get better, because Baiken got to unleash all of her fury against her opponents. Adrian would've really suffered a lot if he would've faced the angry woman, despite all the crap that he constantly said. Even those armored Heartless didn't stand a chance against our irritable friend; her sword went through their protection like a hot knife cuts through butter. Her face reflected her immense rage and so did her battle cries. At that moment, she became the most savage fighter on the battlefield.

As for me, I guess the tension had sort of sharpened my wits and I didn't do so badly this time around. I mainly concentrated my attacks in Heartless that had big, trumpet-like mouths. Every time one of those things started to play its weird instrument, bad things happened. They healed their companions (although that didn't work much, because none of them lasted that long) or summoned new warriors to the battlefield. Since I was the one who could get around the Heartless with the most ease, I was appointed to kill those freaks. Jam helped a bit too; after all, she's faster than I am (but not as agile. That's the advantage of being a super-developed kitty).

Actually, we all fought like kitty-cats at that moment, in the sense that we toyed with our enemies for as long as we could... except for Baiken. The rest of us evaded much more attacks than we dished out. We really wanted the battle to last as long as possible. Besides, it's not like the foes that we faced at that moment were too terrible. The catch was that, if we messed with our opponents for too long, Baiken would pop out of nowhere and slay the fiend in the blink of an eye. She just wanted to hit something... anything. I doubt that I'd ever seen her so annoyed and with Baiken, that's really saying something. I mean... well, you know!

Anyway, as you know, all good things eventually come to an end and so the fight ended. The last enemy left was under Baiken's foot and she was just about to drive her sword through him. With a furious cry, she delved her blade into her opponent's body with such strength that her katana ended up buried in the stone. We discretely formed a human wall between her, Adrian and Jam. I quickly approached the vampire who, amazingly, was still smiling impishly. Honestly, his brazenness knew no bounds.

"What did I ask of you?" I murmured.

"No more jokes... but I couldn't contain myself!" he chuckled in a low voice. "Besides, she started it!"

"You're like a little kid!" I meowed. "Please, just quit it, okay? I'll give you—! I know! If you stop messing with her for, like, the rest of the freaking night, I'll let you drink my blood!"

"Oooh, that's a very generous offer!" he answered, licking his lips and rubbing his hands in anticipation. He didn't seem lustful; just hungry. "I'll be good, I promise. I'll behave."

"I hope so..."

"And Jam?" he asked as he glanced at her and she looked at him. "I'm very thirsty, you know."

"Um, I... I'll think about it," she giggled and blushed. I think it was the first time I'd seen her behaving bashfully. No doubt she remembered our little talk when we had bathed that other night.

"Can I count on you, too?" I asked her. I was really hoping I would neutralize all hostilities... "Please, stop bothering her."

"Okay, I'll stop."

Meanwhile, Leon and Ryu had already approached Baiken and were gathering a bit of courage to speak with her. She remained still, breathing heavily, covered in sweat. She sheathed her blade and let out a long breath.

"Baiken..." Ryu began, but before he could go on, she spoke.

"I'm calm now."

"...Are you sure?" Leon asked.

"Yeah. I'm feeling much better," she said, arranging her hair. Thank God... "Just... keep them away from me, okay?"

"I'll do my best," Ryu hastily assured.

"Thanks. Now, who's got a bit of water? I'm dead thirsty..." She quietly walked away from Ryu and Leon with a much unexpected peaceful expression on her face. Finally, we could breathe again.

"Suddenly, my headache's starting to get better," Leon said and Adrian chuckled in a low voice. A local joke, I suppose.

We went on without saying anything. The tension had begun to drop. The silence that had befallen upon us was most welcome. But as we started to feel at ease about Adrian, Jam, and Baiken, my mind went back to Octavius. That jerk...

You might say that I really wanted to talk about it, but I didn't want to give any of my friends reasons to call me an idiot (cough, cough, Baiken). Somehow, I could see that Sora truly disliked the present silence and I knew that, before long, he would turn to me and ask me about him. All I could do was to wait for him to start questioning me so that then Baiken could verbally slap me without shame or mercy.

"So..." the kid said, as he approached me. See? No, I'm not a psychic: I just know my people. "Aren't you glad you'll get to see Octavius soon, Felicia?" Now that he had popped the question, I couldn't help but to be honest.

"I don't know," I replied.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"Sora, you know that we forgot about you, right? But, when we remembered, we still thought of you and couldn't wait to see you, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

"Answer me two things: how did you feel when you knew we'd forgotten about you? And two: during all this time, did Octavius ever mention my name?" I questioned.

He hesitated. Donald and Goofy looked at each other, trying to remember something that surely didn't happen. Even Adrian looked away. And at last, it was Leon who responded my inquiry.

"No," he muttered softly.

"Well, there you go!" I said. "I guess that answers all doubts, huh? What am I supposed to feel like?"

"You know, maybe he..." Sora murmured. He paused for a while as he thought about something to say, but nothing came to him. Defending Octavius for such a thing was a lost cause and he came to realize it quite soon. "Well, I don't know what to tell you."

"Come on, don't give me that," Ranma intervened. "Did you give him any information to contact you at all?"

"I didn't, but—" I began, but he wouldn't let me finish.

"Then how can you tell that he didn't try to look you up? Either way, if you wanted to see him so badly, you could've looked him up as well, don't you think?"

"Ranma, are you actually defending him for being a jerk?" Akane quickly intervened.

"It's not that! I'm just saying that she could've t—"

"Hey, I did give him plenty of reasons for him to look me up, don't you think?" I refuted, as I'd finally thought of something to say. "He never gave me one. He never tried to be nice to me or to say any words of comfort..."

"What about the Rage of the Forests? He underwent that change because he cared about you."

"Yeah, and taking out one of Siegfried's eyes is a real testament to that, isn't it?" Leon interjected. I thought of saying it, but I surely didn't have half the guts to spill it out like that... Still, he sort of had a point. There was nothing I could say. Or maybe there was, but it's just that I didn't feel like saying it.

"That was horrible, yes, but it was just a side-effect," Ranma argued. "It just happened because he got mad because Felicia got hurt. What does that tell you about him?"

"Can I talk?" asked Adrian. I turned to him and eyed him carefully. He had used a serious tone... but I really couldn't tell if he was going to joke anymore. However, I underestimated him at the time: he wasn't THAT inopportune.

"Go ahead," Leon said. Baiken turned her head and frowned. "I'm sure you'll back me up on this."

"Listen, it's not that Octavius is a bad person," the vampire explained. There was no trace of goof in his voice. He had his moments... "But if he does have feeling for any of us, he hides it really well. Well, it's no secret that he doesn't like me very much, but that's about it."

Baiken couldn't contain herself this time.

"Gee, I wonder why?" she snorted.

"I'm thirsty, so I'll behave now. But I'll get you back later!" the vampire replied with that smirk of his. I'm surprised that he wasn't the least angry at her... Or that she didn't keep bothering him (let's face it: she sort of had the right to do so). "Anyway, returning to the point, I don't doubt that Octavius has feelings for Felicia, but hey: it's clear that he doesn't want to befriend any of us. Why? I haven't got a clue and I wouldn't ask him. But if he doesn't want to have anything to do with us, then why would he look her up?"

"Then she should've tried to find him anyway. You should've tried," Ranma said, referring to me.

"Oh, so men can be jerks and women still have to care about them?" Akane growled. "Is that the way it works?"

"No, I'm just saying—"

"You know what? Never mind, Ranma." She stepped away from him and kept walking at a fast pace. Ranma understood that there was nothing he could do that would appease Akane at that moment.

I would've liked the conversation to have gone on, yet things were looking rather fragile at the moment. We made a non-verbal agreement that it would be best if we just shut our mouths for the moment and concentrated on our mission: to find Meg and get her out of there (just in case you forgot... 'cause I sure was starting to do that).

Whatever the case, I understood what Ranma had meant. But all my other friends were right as well. I felt that I really had the right to be mad at him and nothing would make me feel different. I was aware that he might've felt something for me, but he always made his best to hide it. Adrian was right: he didn't want to befriend any of us. He only fought alongside us because there was no other choice. Well, to hell with him, I thought. And as I pondered upon this, I let out a sad sigh and looked away from my friends. However, Jam approached me and put her hand on my shoulder. I didn't expect her to be the one to give me a friendly smile, assuring me that all would be fine, since she had been such a bitch to Ukyo. People always surprise you, I guess. I only limited myself to smile back and to keep on walking quietly.

Before long and after a few more battles with the Heartless, we reached a strange chamber. It had nothing in it, save for a bizarre rock which had Meg's shape carved on it. It irradiated a strange energy. Moreover, there was a keyhole right next to the girl's figure. How very convenient...

"It's got to be a trap," Ryoga mused.

"Maybe..." Sora said. "But if Meg's in there, we'll have to deal with it somehow. We can't leave her with Hades. Who knows what will do to her if we abandon her now."

"I know, I know," Ryoga sighed and raised his fists.

"I'll handle this," Sora muttered and pointed his Keyblade at the stone while the rest of us put ourselves on guard.

He shot a beam of light from the tip of his weapon and hit the mark, just like old times. The stone became bright like a star and slowly faded away. At last, it disappeared, leaving nothing but a hole in the ground... a passageway to a cavern. I could hear many things coming from that eerie cave and none of them were pleasant. My ears constantly moved as they picked up new sounds.

"What's that you're hearing, Hello Kitty?" asked Baiken. I think she was the only one that noticed my restless ears.

"Lots of things," I whispered. "I think there's a lot of Heartless waiting for us down there." Oh, and by the way, the nickname wasn't at all unpleasant.

"Well, it's not like we can't take on them," Donald said confidently. "The way we're right now, we would make short work of Hades if he tried to stop us."

"Then let's get down here," Sora announced with a cocky smile, glancing at Donald and Goofy. They nodded and immediately jumped into the cavern.

"Let's go after them," Leon pressed. We followed Sora, Donald, and Goofy, hoping that they were right and that we would take care of business without much trouble.

The chamber wasn't too big and was bathed by an unnatural light. Strangely enough, I could only see one enemy, even though I heard many. Before us, stood Hades, holding Meg by her arm. She struggled to get free, but was unable to run away. Aside from having the fiend holding her, she was tied with a dark, ghostly rope.

"Meg!!" Sora cried. "Hades, let her go!!"

"Well done, kid!" the foe cackled. "You surely made my day!" And with that said, he vanished from our side, releasing a weakened Meg.

"Meg!" Goofy exclaimed. He raced to her side and helped her up. "Are you all right?"

"Hercules..." she said in nearly a whisper. "Where is he...? Is he okay?"

"He can take care of himself," Sora assured. "Right now, we have to get you out of here."

"But... it's a trap!" Meg cried, pointing at our backs.

"Our shields can't repel fire of that magnitude!" Adrian exclaimed, withdrawing his scythe; but not everyone appreciated him remembering that Meg's words were Admiral Ackbar's immortal phrase...

"For the nth time, shut the fuck up!!" Baiken roared. There we went again...

"AHH!! REPRESSION!!" the vampire laughed.

"Hey! The enemy is over there!" Ryu scolded, pointing at the group of Heartless that had come out of the shadows and was beginning to muster around a black, round shadow...

"Aw, if it isn't the little pipsqueaks!" exclaimed a mocking voice. It had been the shadow. He stepped into the ghostly light and revealed to be a black cat wearing body armor. It was a shame: I really didn't feel like beating a colleague to unconsciousness. "Brace yourselves for a nice battle! Oh, but you can't fight in the Underworld, can you? Oh, boo-hoo!"

"Who's this tub of lard?" Baiken asked.

"That's Black Pete!" Goofy answered.

"Ha! Better watch your mouth!" Pete replied. "It's not like a girl whose missing half her body can beat me!"

"OOH!! Even I'm not THAT stupid!!" Adrian cried with a loud laugh.

"An arm is not half of my body, enormous, abnormal piece of shit," Baiken growled. "Besides, you seem to be missing vital information."

"Huh?" muttered Pete.

"Didn't you know?" Sora announced. "We found the Olympus Stone! So I guess it's time to show you how good we are at this fighting business!"

Before he could react, we charged against him and his army. The Heartless began to come out of the walls like a disturbed swarm. This time, their numbers were exceedingly high.

For each Heartless that we killed, another one hastily took its place. I leapt from victim to victim, scratching their faces with my fierce claws, tearing their heads to shreds. Blades swung back and forth, piercing chests and stomachs; fists whizzed through the air, crushing bones and organs... yet despite all our efforts, we were making little progress. Black Pete kept running away from us, hiding behind the soon-to-be dead bodies of many Heartless. Bravery wasn't one of his attributes, that's for sure.

I only fought alongside my companions for about thirty seconds until I realized that Meg was still inside the chamber and I can bet that all she knew was how to slap someone. I quickly went back to her side and readied myself to fight off the Heartless that lurked near her. We were so lucky none of them attacked them... I guess they were all too busy with us. Very soon, Sora, Goofy, and Akane joined the party.

It didn't take me long to notice that splitting up hadn't been the brightest idea. We were at an enormous disadvantage now that the Heartless could flank us much more easily. I slashed across one of my enemies' jugular, slaying him instantaneously, yet was hit by two other Heartless from both sides. For a moment there, I'd forgotten that these monsters didn't like to play fairly.

Black Pete hadn't received even one punch. He just kept hiding among the other freaks, coming out every now and then to dish out a single attack and then he would retreat. The Heartless seemed to be actually looking out for him. Or maybe they were so freaking many that it appeared that they protected him. We had to think of a strategy, and fast.

Our immediate objective would have to be to get everyone together. Separated, we were sitting ducks for the enemy; together we stood more of a chance. Since we had slightly less Heartless attacking us, we figured it would be easier for us to get out of there. We began to work together to get out of that mess.

There was no need to cross any words. We were so used to battle alongside each other that we knew our moves, what we could do to help each other and when to do it. Goofy was the first to begin the attack: he spun on his feet at full speed, turning into a tornado that knocked down every Heartless that dared step in his path. Next, Sora threw his Keyblade like a boomerang, killing many Heartless with a single throw. Once it came back to his hands, he slammed the ground with it, causing a small explosion that took out another batch of fiends. Akane covered the kid's back with devastating punches and kicks while I cleared the way forward. Actually, I was trying my best... but there were about a hundred Heartless between us and our friends. There was simply no end to it. Until something unexpected happened...

"Sora!! You've changed again!!" cried Goofy with amazement.

We turned to the boy and gasped as we saw that his outfit had acquired a red color and that he now held not one, but two Keyblades. Before we knew what was going on, he started to swing both swords with amazing speed and skill. Akane and I sort of felt useless at the moment; Sora had become a monster capable of shattering an army of great numbers by himself. We had no idea of what was happening, but rather than to ponder about it, we just followed his lead as he mowed down our foes.

But our luck couldn't be that good. Oh, no; destiny loves to tease us with games like those. Because, the moment we reached our friends' side, Sora's clothes changed back to normal and he fell on his knees, gasping for air. He was dead tired.

"Hang on, Sora!" Ken said. "We're almost out of this!"

"Not even you believed that, Ken!" Jam whined.

"This is just a minor setback, Marmalade Jam, so quit yapping," Baiken grumbled. "We'll kill all of these bastards soon enough."

"Bwah, ha, ha!!" Pete cackled. "Do you think you can actually defeat us as you are now?"

"Perhaps this ought to turn the tide?!" a voice suddenly exclaimed. We turned back and saw that a new contestant had joined the fray: Hercules. Like I said, destiny just messes with you, for better or worse. In our case and at that specific moment, for the better, of course.

"Whaaa?!" the fiend cried in shock and rubbed his eyes, hoping that what he was looking was but an illusion. Too bad for him the mythical hero was truly there.

"Herc! You made it!" Meg said with relief and raced to his side.

"Don't worry, Meg: we'll get you out of here," he declared and whistled.

His loyal Pegasus instantly heeded his call and landed on the midst of the battlefield. Hercules helped Meg on his back and then turned to us and said: "Please, I need you to go with her."

"As strong as you may be, you'll need help for this!" Sakura cried.

"It's okay, Herc," Meg assured. "You need their help more than I do... Let them lend you a hand."

"All right," Hercules agreed. I didn't think it would be that easy to convince him... But we girls have our secret weapons. He gently slapped Pegasus on its back and then it immediately flew away. He ran to where we stood and charged at the Heartless like a maddened bull. The effect the attack had...? Think of a monster truck running over a tricycle. That should give you an idea.

Pete, of course, had no idea of what to do.

"I sure wasn't expecting this!" he muttered aloud. I'm sure he thought 'did I just say that?' Which in turn encouraged us all to push forth. Even Sora, who was seemingly out of strength, got back on his feet and let his sword go from one side to another with righteous fury once more.

"Surprise!" Baiken yelled as she leapt right in front of the big hairball. A startled Pete tried to punch her in order to push her away, but Baiken easily evaded the blow and placed her hand on her opponent's huge belly. "Half my body is missing? Don't underestimate me!!"

She expelled a burst of energy against Pete, sending him far away. However, she wasn't done. Before he could travel too far, she threw her handy claw at him, capturing him and stopping him on his tracks. Then, she pulled him back to her and delivered a lethal slash with her blade.

"TETSUZANSEN!!" she roared. Pete was lucky to be wearing such a sturdy armor; otherwise he would've been cut in two. He managed to escape from Baiken's rage with a scratch alone.

But now that the 'ball' was in the air, the game had to go on. As Pete flew high over the chamber, I realized I was the next in line to score a hit. My kitty instincts drove me to jump at him and then to slam him against the ground as hard as I could. While I did this, the rest of the guys took care of the Heartless; since Hercules was literally crushing most of the shadows, we had little work to do. The attacks that he received caused him little or no damage. I guess in the end that we were simply exhausted and that's why we had done so badly.

Well, it doesn't really matter now. Either way, it was Ken's turn. He kicked Pete as if he were a football and scored a field goal. Then, Jam delivered an even more potent kick, sending him rolling over the ground. Goofy stopped him with his shield, giving Donald and Leon enough time to scorch the fiend's wide butt. Pete yelled and began to desperately across the room. I don't know why he didn't just roll; the fire wasn't that big... he would've easily put it out that way... Ah, of course: he was a moron. How could he have thought about that?

Hercules then raced at the already defeated opponent and delivered a brutal punch to his stomach. Again, the ball was on the field. Akane made a pass to Sakura and Sakura kicked him at Ryoga, who changed the game's rules; it was no longer soccer or football: now we were playing volleyball. But as the ball got to Ryu, he decided to go back to soccer, because he head-butted Pete, making him fly high into the air again. Ranma leapt after him and kicked him to Sora. The boy elevated him even more with a mighty swing from his Keyblade and at long last, Adrian slam-dunked him into the ground.

"BOO-YAH!!" he cheered as Black Pete got up only to fall on his fat butt again. He remained still, trying to shake the dizziness that had invaded him, as he realized that while we beat the tar out of him so stylishly, we had also destroyed all of his lackeys.

"Oh-oh..." was all he managed to blurt out and then, a dark mist engulfed him and he was gone.

"We're the shiznit!!" Adrian cheered. At last, we could have a moment's worth of peace.

"That was a short fight," Hercules said. "I owe it to you, guys. Thanks for rescuing Meg from that fiend."

"No problem, Herc," Sora muttered as he sat down on the ground and tried to recover his breath. "So, how'd that battle with the monster go?"

"Well, I have to admit that it was a bit tougher than the usual things Hades sends after me. Still, I cut off its head and, well, there's not much you can do once you lose your head."

"I don't think that Hades will let us off that easily," Leon muttered. "I bet he's preparing something for us. I could bet my life on it."

"Isn't that a little negative, Leon?" Sakura asked. "Come on! We just destroyed a whole lot of Heartless! What other presents could Hades have under his sleeve?"

"If something appears to be going right, then there's definitively something wrong," the vampire declared.

"Murphy's Law?" I asked. "That's just plain negativism, you know."

"I'm not being negative, I'm being r—"

"Realistic," I interrupted. "Yeah, I didn't forget that part."

And then, as if on cue, Meg descended into the chamber with Pegasus carrying her on its back. The look on her face told me that something was very wrong. I don't know why, but I really felt like punching Adrian at that moment.

"Hercules!" she exclaimed. "A monster is destroying the Coliseum!"

"AHH!! MURPHY!!" Adrian cursed, shaking his fist and looking at the cave's ceiling with that big smile of his. I regret to say that this time, Baiken really expressed my feelings.

"SHUT UUUUUUUP!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. There went the last of her sanity. And what was worse was that Adrian was barely able to hold his laughs.

Nevertheless, I glared at him and raised a warning finger to silence him. He instantly repressed all his laughter and only limited himself to say: "I'll behave."

"What sort of monster is it?" asked Hercules, paying no attention to the little verbal fight that had just taken place.

"It's a... a dragon!" Meg answered. "It's got three snake-like heads!"

"That guy?! But I killed it a while ago!" Hercules exclaimed. "I cut off its head and I was done!"

"...Three heads?" asked Ryu, taking a step forth. "You cut off its head?"

"I did!"

At that very instant, those of us who had read a bit of mythology at least understood what was going on and we immediately began to climb our way out of the chamber without giving any explanations to those not familiar with the Greek myths of our world.

"What's going on? Where are you guys going?" asked a confused Goofy.

"Questions later; just follow us!" Jam responded.

Sora, Leon, Donald, and Goofy shrugged and quickly followed us as Hercules got on his Pegasus and flew at full speed to the Coliseum...

_(Change of scene)_

The exit to the Coliseum was in front of us. But just before we managed to get out, we heard a loud noise that came from the deep caverns and tunnels of Hades's domain. We turned around and noticed a new platoon of Heartless was chasing us. Seriously: where did they get so many bad guys? Didn't they ever run out of Heartless?

"What the hell is it with these guys?!" Ken cried, readying his fists for another go.

"You need to get rid of that thing right now!" Ryu told us. "Get going! I'll cover you!"

"I'll stay too, then," Ken said.

"I'll remain here as well if the vampire goes away," Baiken grumbled.

"Okay, so Ken, Baiken, and Leon stay behind," Sora said. "The rest of us, lets hurry back to the Coliseum!"

"Let's go then!" I exclaimed as Pegasus flew above our heads and exited the Underworld. We followed Sora's pace as quickly as we could. And so, upon exiting the caverns of hell, we faced a new enemy...

The creature had already destroyed the entire Coliseum. It stood amongst the rubble roaring madly. Its body was the one of a dragon and it possessed three hideous heads. They looked like skulls with big, yellow eyes. Their fangs glittered with the lightning of the storm that was now brewing over the land. The fiend was unlike anything I'd ever imagined. This thing... this Hydra was a truly fearsome monster that chilled me to the bone with its mere glance.

"What... what have I done...?" muttered Hercules, falling to his knees. "I... I failed..."

"Come on, Herc!" said Sora. "Don't do this now! Let's kill that thing once and for all!"

"Hades was right," Hercules mumbled in a low voice and his golden glitter began to grow weak. "I'm just a buffoon... I can't do a thing right."

"How about you torture yourself later? Like, after we've beaten this thing?!" Jam cried.

"I can't..." he went on, unable to get up. Meg went by his side and put his weight on her shoulder and slowly took him to a safe place. Great: our ace's self-esteem had dropped like a ton of bricks and now he couldn't even bring himself to fight. What could possibly else go wrong?

Oh, yes: you guessed it. Something else did go wrong.

Seeing that Hercules was too depressed to fight, Sora, Leon, Goofy, and Donald wasted not a moment longer and hurried to battle the giant Hydra. The fiend responded by whipping its three heads at our friends with the speed of a flying arrow. They all beautifully evaded the Hydra's fangs and then royally screwed things up.

Sora leapt onto the monster's head and drove his Keyblade on its long neck; Leon brought down his sword with mad fury upon the beast's head as well while Donald froze his attacker and Goofy slammed the block of ice, shattering into dozens of pieces. What happened after that? Well, if you know the tale, then you probably know. Only that it happened with... steroids, so to speak.

"WOAH!!" they cried and raced back to us as three heads emerged at incredible speed from each of the necks. Three times three equals nine very troublesome problems.

"That wasn't too smart..." Sakura mumbled.

"What are we supposed to do now?!" Ranma screamed.

"Stop cutting off its heads, for starters!" Adrian replied.

The enormous fiend began to attack the rest of us. One of its heads lunged at Jam with blinding speed. She evaded the fatal attack and countered with a mighty blow that caused the monster to snap its skull back. Another attacked me and I reacted in a most stupid way. I climbed it and began to run through its neck. Two more heads attacked me as I raced through the monster. One of them nearly swallowed me whole, but instead, it bit its own mate. The force of the bite was such that it beheaded himself... which wasn't a good thing. Realizing what could happen if I kept this madness up, I jumped off the monster and rolled away from it as fast as I could. Luckily, my friends distracted it long enough so I could reach safety.

"Way to go, Felicia!" Ranma cried in anger.

"I'm sorry!" I yelled back. "I didn't know it would do that!"

"Stop scolding her!" Akane exclaimed.

"Freeze it, freeze it!!" Sora wailed as three heads attacked him at once. Donald helped him out by doing as he asked. Another block of ice and our friend was free to make a run for it. But the Hydra shook the rest of its heads with mad fury and shattered the block of ice.

"You've got to be kidding me!!" the duck quacked.

"How many are there now??" Ryoga cried.

"Thirteen!" Sakura answered as she got away from the beast.

"What in the blue fuck?!" Baiken's voice cried behind our backs. We turned around and realized Ryu, Ken, and she had already defeated the group of Heartless that was after us and were ready to help us. How? That was the real question... "I thought it had only three heads!!"

"There's been some accidents!" Adrian yelled from the air; he had shown his dark wings and was using them to keep the Hydra busy. "And don't look at me: I know my mythology!"

"Who was the genius that helped it multiply itself like a rabbit?!" she roared.

"It doesn't matter now!" Ryu answered. "We have to fight it!"

"Aim for its body, then!" Ken cried and threw a Hadoken at the monster.

The idea wasn't bad. The catch was getting around those thirteen heads. They covered most of our blows and kept us from doing any real harm. We were making the Hydra stronger with each of our attacks. Most of us messed up at least once. Ryu and Ken fired potent fireballs at the fiends' belly, but two heads got in the way and got blown up; Ranma and Ryoga made the same mistake; Adrian had to hack away at one of the heads to avoid getting swallowed... Even Baiken messed up. She captured one of the heads with her claw and tried to blind it with her sword, but was hastily attacked by about five sets of fangs. She leapt away and retracted her claw with such force that she ripped the skull off the beast's neck.

"Shit, I fucked up!" she grumbled. "Damn it!!"

We got hurt plenty of times and Donald's strength was beginning to wane. There was apparently nothing we could do against this fiend. Things were looking rather ill...

One of the Hydra's heads tried to swallow me once more. I managed to leap back, but the beast hurt my arm with one of its sharp fangs. I retreated to a corner, where Baiken and Ryu stood, gasping for air.

"What... what do we do now?" I muttered.

"I don't know..." Ryu mumbled. "I don't have enough strength to execute a Shinku Hadoken... And even if I did, I don't know how much good it'd do."

At that moment, Adrian joined us, much to Baiken's discontent. However, the vampire was no longer in the mood for jokes.

"That thing is wicked!" he said.

"How are we going to beat him?" I asked. "...How did Hercules beat him in our stories?"

"He didn't just sit back and let someone else do the fighting, that's for sure," Adrian grumbled.

"Finally, you start making sense when you talk!" Baiken said. "We have to get Hercules off his freaking ass so he can help us!"

"But he won't!" I cried. "How did he—?"

"In our tales?" she interrupted. "When he cut off a head, he kept it from growing back by cauterizing the wound with the fire of a torch."

"Donald can make fire! And so can Leon and you, Adrian!"

"It's not going to let them cauterize the necks so quickly," Ryu intervened. "It has to be immediate."

"I know!" Adrian exclaimed. "Donald! Donald!! Get over here!" he called. The duck turned with a confused glance and did our best to get to our side while the rest of the guys kept the Hydra busy. "Listen, we need you to heat up our weapons! Make them red hot!"

"What? What do you need that for?" he quacked.

"Just do it!" Baiken cried. "Hurry! Here: take my katana and my steel fan; that ought to do the trick," she added as she and Adrian put their weapons on the ground.

"But I need to heal you all!"

"Do it, or there will be no one left to cure!"

"Felicia, let's distract that thing while Sora and Leon get over here and have their weapons heated up, too," Ryu suggested.

"I'm not too thrilled about the idea, but I there's no other choice," I muttered as we dashed at the Hydra with a battle cry. Now it all lay in Donald's magic and he was too weak to do anything properly at the moment. We could only hope that the last of his power would suffice to fulfill Adrian's desperate plan. The rest of us wouldn't last long against the immense fiend...

_Narrator: Wilheim_

The Temple of Pandora had collected yet another victim. Octavius had bravely offered his life for us to go on. And for that, we could not fail. No matter the perils, we could not afford the luxury to fall into the arms of death, for a luxury it seemed at the moment. Whatever the case, dying had never been my intention, although I did not want Octavius to go through hellish fire so I could live.

With a heavy heart, Siegfried and I got a hold of Poseidon's Trident: an item that lay within the temple and that would help us get farther in our quest, for it allowed its user to swim underwater with the speed of a shark and without having to breathe any air. I could even feel its ancient power running through my body as I held it and pulled it from its pedestal.

I sighed and handed it to my brother.

"Here, take this," I said. "I have Underwater Materia: I will use that to move through the water."

"Wilheim..." he muttered, sadness still lingering in his voice. "I can't swim. I don't know how, remember?"

"It slipped my mind..." I mused. "All right; then you take the Underwater Materia and I will swim with the aid of the trident."

"Okay... then in we go," he said as we looked at the pool that surrounded the altar we had reached.

We dived into the water silently. Siegfried gently landed upon the ground and began to walk as if he would if we would still be on the surface, whereas I followed him closely swimming quite slowly, since I never did receive any lessons: I learned to swim by myself and my technique was rather poor, I must say. But at least I managed to go forth; that was what mattered.

Siegfried and I encountered little perils in that watery maze, but they nearly cost us our lives. We made our way out of the aquatic labyrinth and ended up in the same place we had started our journey in. Only that this time, we had the necessary tools to go inside the pool that led to another challenge.

We realized that we had so far followed a correct path; the underwater tunnel we had traversed was impossible to cross for any regular human being, unless he had developed gills in his body. We swam for nearly ten minutes until we found a way out. There may be extraordinary fellows out there that can hold their breaths for so long a time, but I surely was not one of them and I very much doubt Siegfried's skills extended that far at the moment.

Whatever the case, once we exited the tunnel, we decided to rest a bit while our clothes dried. We were hurt, tired, and, of course, very depressed. For my part, I did not feel like stopping, yet I as I saw Siegfried's exhausted eye, I knew we had to take a break. I did not want to push him as far as to have him give his life for the mission's sake: if he died, then I would be lost. For that, too, I had no intention of falling into darkness: I would not leave him unprotected.

"So... I heard you built yourself quite a reputation among the vampires," Siegfried murmured.

"Yes, I suppose I did," I replied.

"I met some of them."

"Yes; Ukyo and the others told me about it. They said they were rather pleased to meet your acquaintance."

"Have any of them come to visit you? I mean, while you were at Ukyo's..." he asked.

"Olaf and Thor came and stayed with us for a few days. Rofell also visited us. We have stayed in touch with Gustav through letters: he does not like electronic mails."

"Electronic mails?" my brother muttered, confused.

"Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you: now I am very fond of computers," I explained.

"I wouldn't know, Wilheim. I didn't live to see that."

"I know," I sighed. "Tell me: how are Sora, Donald, and Goofy?"

"Sora's huge. You wouldn't believe it; he's grown so much. He's just a bit shorter than me... You're still a lot bigger, though. I don't remember you being so big."

I let out a chuckle as I heard him say this.

"I suppose I grew faster than you. Do not worry: you will catch on."

"I hope," he murmured with a smile.

"I forgot about you, Siegfried," I confessed. "And about Sora, Donald, and Goofy... and the rest of the fellows I met during our last adventure. I am sorry..."

"Don't worry about it. I was expecting that... We have a theory regarding that."

"Really? Then I suppose I will ask that you explain it to me later."

"Sure... Wilheim... Do you... do you really believe that we'll get Ukyo and Octavius back?" he muttered hesitantly.

"I have to. Otherwise, what is the point of risking our lives in this cursed fortress?"

He remained silent for a few moments and then nodded solemnly.

"Yeah..." he sighed. "We'll get them back."

"Beyond a doubt," I assured. "How are you feeling? Are you ready for another test?"

"Yeah, I've had my rest," he assured, getting up. "Let's go."

"Yes; let's go."

We cautiously entered an enormous room which had a somber metallic statue of Hades in its center. This was not the god I had meet during our previous journey; this one resembled more the deity I had read about when I was a young vampire, for rather than a cadaverous face, the sculpture depicted Hades wearing a monstrous helmet. Siegfried and I assumed that either this statue portrayed a younger, more serious and noble Hades, or a former god of the Underworld. After all, Kratos did kill Ares, or so he claimed.

Before long, we were forced to battle against a horde of centaurs. These enemies were much smarter than the regular legionaries or the minotaurs; each of them held a pair of swords and fought rather skillfully. It was very difficult to score a blow, for they parried our attacks with much easy and countered with deadly stabs. We received some blows, yet none of them were fatal.

In the end, Siegfried discovered the monsters' weak spot: their legs. They were too tall to efficiently protect their legs. My brother first blocked both of their blades with his trusty shield and then slashed his opponents' legs and when they lay low, howling in pain, he stabbed them in the chest or hacked away at their throats. For my part, I completely cut off their legs and then their arms. Renamark's fire did the rest, consuming their foul flesh to their very bones. This way, I managed to kill much more foes than my brother.

We defeated our opponents after a short while. A new path lay before us, but we had many cuts on our bodies. Once again, I had to recur to Renamark's flame to cauterize our wounds. Neither Siegfried nor I liked the idea of being licked by my blade's magical fire, but it was either endure that horrid pain or slowly lose all of our blood. And so, after very reluctantly treating our bruises, we went on.

"Damn those freaking centaurs..." he said as he wiped the tears that had come from his eye due to the extreme pain he felt upon having Renamark burn his cuts. "They caused us a lot of trouble."

"They did. But we stand still," I observed.

"I know, but they were so annoying," he grumbled.

"Has anyone else come with you, besides Sora, Donald, Octavius, and Goofy?" I asked, trying to divert his thoughts to something else other than the pain.

"Yeah," he said. "Leon and Adrian are also with us."

"That is good to know," I said. I certainly missed the two of them. "Let us complete this mission so we can all be together."

"Yeah..."

We faced many perils after that. Huge, rolling balls of fire that threatened to burn us to a crisp, for starters. They were obstacles within an immense corridor and, according to a clue we had found earlier, there were ten doors and only one of them led further inside the temple. Opening them was not easy, for each was as heavy as a truck. If it had not been carrying Renamark, our mission might have ended right then... After that, we waged many battles. We fought countless undead soldiers, minotaurs, centaurs, and we even came across a few gorgons. Killing these latter fiends was not an easy task; we had to rely on the reflection they cast upon Siegfried's shield to slaughter them, for we could not look at them in the eyes. They actually turned many of their comrades to stone, thus making our job a bit easier. But the danger of being transformed to rock was always present. Yet we outsmarted them and decapitated them after a hard battle. Even then, however, we refused to look at them.

"You know, Wilheim, we should take one of those heads with us," Siegfried suggested. "If things work like in the myth, we could probably kill some enemies by turning them to stone with that gorgon head."

"A dangerous tool indeed, but I agree," I replied. "I will carry it. You are already holding a shield; I reckon I can use Renamark as a rapier and carry Medusa's head with my other hand."

"Is that okay with you? I mean, I've noticed you're using a different technique lately..."

"Even so, I mostly use one hand. Let me carry the burden."

The gorgon's lucky charm did come in handy. Upon showing it to many enemies, they became petrified, even if for a few moments, for most of them managed to break free from their rocky prison before Siegfried or I could deliver the final blow. Nevertheless, it still rendered them useless for a moment; long enough for us to dispose of their teammates so we could then finish them off. I only used Medusa's head against large and fearsome opponents that moved slowly, for they were the ones that were most affected by the deadly glance of the inert head.

Afterwards, we came across a new challenge: beams placed so high above the ground that even the colossal statue of Hades seemed as small as bonsai tree. And to make matters worse, there were plenty of spinning blades about. One small mistake and they would take our legs so that we would then fall to our deaths. Thankfully, neither my brother nor I were acrophobic. This did not mean, however, that we were not scared to death about crossing that horrible path.

Luckily, we prevailed and soon returned to the immense chamber where we had exited the water tunnel. Only that we now stood on a platform which had a lever... and it was then that we realized that we had overlooked a gate of gigantic proportions which had an ominous lock on it. Siegfried and I stared at it silently, cursing our poor perceptiveness. How could we have missed that?

"What do you suppose is behind that thing?" he asked in a whisper.

"I do not know," I replied. "Somehow, though, I have a feeling that this lever will answer that question."

"...Should I activate it?"

It took me a moment to answer. I got a firm grip on my sword and took a deep breath before doing so.

"Do it."

He nodded and did as I told him. Following that, the lock fell off the door, just like I had expected it to, and caused a tremendous ruckus upon hitting the ground... waking something on the other side of the door.

The being started to bang it with horrific force, making the immensely thick wood tremble as if a quake had assaulted the temple. Siegfried and I looked at each other as the creature raged on the other side of the gate. I saw terrible fright within my brother's eye and struggled not to be attacked by it.

"What... what could that thing be?" he murmured.

"How can I know?" I whispered back. "Whatever it is, we will find out in a moment."

"O-okay..." he stuttered and followed my from behind as I leapt down from the platform and onto the battlefield.

The monster kept struggling to open the enormous gates as we walked forth to meet it. But before we engaged the being behind those doors, Siegfried's eye discerned something most important.

"Wilheim, look at that," he said. "That thing over there... it seems to be a giant ballista, doesn't it?"

"A ballista?" I muttered.

"A scorpion; a weapon," he insisted. "There's an orifice there to shoot those logs, I reckon. Can you see them? The ones that are tipped? I can bet my life that it's a weapon of some sort. See? It even has a lever..."

"Then let us hope you are right and that we might use it to our advantage. If you are so certain that it is a scorpion, get on there and get ready to fire."

"That's a good idea," he agreed and hastily ran to the lever. Upon seeing him on higher ground, I did not feel as worried anymore: now I had to worry only about my life... for the most part.

I approached the center of the arena. The door finally yielded. The creature that I now faced was as tall as a building and had a metallic armor all over him. I tried to hide my fear, but it was useless: my face had turned pale and my eyes reflected the terror that was overwhelming my heart. The enemy before me was a Minotaur. It lowered its head and exhaled disgusting fumes from its nose at me. I believe that it was savoring my fright...

"God almighty..." I murmured.

"Holy crap!!" Siegfried cried from my back.

As an answer, the Minotaur let out a terrifying roar that shook the walls of the arena. I covered my ears and grunted in pain, waiting for him to be done. Nevertheless, I never lost sight of him, and it was a good thing I did not, for if that had been the case, I would have been crushed by the fiend's terrible hand. He brought it down against the ground with mighty force, making a great crater on the ground.

Siegfried lost no time and pulled the lever, thus successfully letting an immense wooden projectile fly at the Minotaur. Unfortunately, the monster was well aware of my brother and of the giant ballista and leapt aside. He growled and slowly began to approach him. Well, so much for feeling at ease about him.

I raced at the Minotaur and with a battle cry, slashed at his leg with all my might. Renamark's steel is formidable; and because of that, I managed to actually drive it inside the Minotaur's armor. However, I was unable to reach his flesh. Its covering was one of the hardest things I had ever stricken. But I did get his attention, which was good... but inconvenient.

"This does not bode well..." I muttered to myself as the Minotaur readied itself to let loose another blow. I leapt away from it just in time to avoid getting my body pulverized.

At that moment, I knew Siegfried had realized that trying to help me take on the creature with his sword would be a terrible waste of time: if Renamark had been unable to cut through the armor efficiently, he would be lucky if his blade so much as made a dent in that steel. It had been decided: I would be the bait and he would have to score a true shot. Though the wood was not as strong as my magical weapon, its monstrous size shot at that incredible speed were more than bound to do some harm. My goal was to distract him long enough for my brother to score a blow...

The Minotaur attacked again, this time, swinging his arms from one side to the other. I raced back and tried to repel him with my blade, but my attacks were pointless. Soon, my back hit the wall of the arena. This time, I was unable to escape my opponent's attack. I felt the blow of his hand as I flew across the arena and hit another wall. The entire stance spun madly and I was unable to get back on my feet. I could only see the Minotaur approaching, ready for the kill.

"Wilheim!!" Siegfried yelled. He fired another projectile to divert the monster's attention from me.

He succeeded in this; the giant trunk hit a wall, but did not even scratch the Minotaur. The fiend turned to him and decided that he was more threatening than I. It charged at the machine with all of its might. Thankfully, it did not break it. However, my brother fell on the iron floor and sustained a few wounds. The monster then tried to kill him with its fists. Siegfried moved faster than the foe and evaded all of its attacks. However, I was certain that he would not last long like that. I had to help him.

My next blow had to be a certain one: Siegfried's life depended on it. Once the dizziness had stopped, I ran at our enemy as fast as I could and I swung my blade at the very same spot where I had damaged its armor. This time, Renamark went through the iron and I cut a bit of the demon's flesh. The fiend grunted and faced me. It had been a small cut, but my mighty blade's fire is a horribly painful thing to experience.

The Minotaur tried to smash me with its hooves. I leapt back and this time kept a constantly watch on the wall behind me: I could not afford getting cornered again. But this time, the Minotaur leaned over and inhaled a lot of air. A second passed and then he spat a stream of fire at me. I was certainly not expecting that. I was unable to escape on time and my arm caught some fire. The pain was tremendous, but I managed to put it out before it spread onto the rest of my body.

The fiend readied itself for another frontal attack... but suddenly, he let out a grunt and stumbled forward. I leapt aside to avoid getting crushed by the monster's hooves. Then, the fiend turned and I noticed that the rear part of his armor was riddled with cracks. There was no doubt about it: Siegfried had scored a shot. I instantly saw the pieces of shattered wood before the fiend.

I stared for too long. The Minotaur took advantage of my unawareness and slapped me with great force. It produced the same result; only that this time it took me longer to get up. Meanwhile the monster had charged against Siegfried again. My brother had avoided the initial blow and was now readying himself to evade the enemy's fists. However, the Minotaur did not plan to use them. Rather, it began to breathe fire into the interior of the scorpion. Again, the contraction was unharmed, but the ground turned as hot as an oven and began to critically hurt my brother. Siegfried desperately clinched to the wall and tried to climb it, yet there were no cracks on the rocky wall that would aid him to get away. His cry of pain and despair, which I had once heard when Magnus had driven his halberd through him, was that which made me react.

"Wilheim!! Help, please!!" he pleaded. His body was about to catch fire; already his skin was smoking.

"Cursed beast...!" I muttered and ran at it while gathering energy upon the palms of my hands.

When I was close enough, I unleashed a potent fireball against the ground. This way, I efficiently propelled myself high into the air and reached the Minotaur's chest's height. I then hacked away with Renamark as fiercely as my arms let me. The already damaged armor of the monster did not resist more punishment and shattered – the Minotaur's back was now unprotected and wounded. Renamark's flames licked its horrid flesh as its steel cut through the muscles on its back. While I did not kill it, the wound had been severe. The Minotaur bellowed in pain and turned to me with fire upon its furious eyes. It started to attack me with mad rage and forgot all about Siegfried, who know lay on the ground and was trying to recover from the hell he had been through.

Either one of two things would happen next: either the Minotaur would corner me and would strike me again (and I was not sure how much of those gentle swings would I be able to endure) or it would unleash its breath of fire upon me. As he swung his fists, all pointed to the first option. I thought of a solution, yet I was uncertain if my agility would suffice. I stopped retreating and waited for the next blow.

The enemy swung its hand at me. I leapt at it and grabbed the fist as hard as I could. The hit was tremendous and hurt very badly. This time, however, since I had hit no walls, I was not overcome by dizziness. I held on tightly to its arm and began to run through it as much as I could before it started to try and shake me off it. After it realized that I was stuck to him like a tick, it threw its other fist at me. I barely cleared it with a jump and kept on climbing until I reached its shoulder. Another attempt on knocking me down; I evaded again. I had to make every second count. I stabbed its helmet and pulled Renamark down with all of my strength. It was a very hard thing to do, but in the end, I managed to crack the armor. The Minotaur involuntarily finished the work by trying to hit me again. The imbecile missed and hit its own head with incredible power, completely shattering the already damaged helmet. I believe some fragments hurt it, for he roared and stumbled on its feet.

The only thing better than having my enemy smash its own helmet was Siegfried's impeccable timing. Another wooden beam flew through the air and crashed against the Minotaur's chest, nearly breaking what was left of the armor. The fiend retreated and crashed against the gates which had kept him captive. I lost my balance and fell from it, but I was lucky enough to control my fall. I stroke again with Renamark with all my might and destroyed his breastplate. The Minotaur's protection was finally gone. His true form was even more hideous than the one of its smaller relatives; its skin was its muscles and its head was a horrid skull covered with fragments of bloody flesh.

Fighting against an unarmored adversary was not as good as I had expected. While I could now harm the Minotaur with each swing of my sword, it had gained tremendous speed and was, of course, very mad. Very soon, another barrage of angry fists rained upon me. I was unable to withstand it and received a brutal beating. Before long, I found myself on my back, rolling from one side to another to avoid getting stepped on. Siegfried tried to help me and fired another deadly projectile. The Minotaur easily evaded it and charged against my brother. While Siegfried effectively avoided getting hurt by the initial attack again, we both knew he would be unable to defend himself from the inferno the fiend would no doubt create.

After a mere second, the horrible beast unleashed hell upon him.

"WILHEIM!! HELP!!" he cried again. The pain had been too great this time.

"I am coming!!" I yelled. I ran at our fiend as fast as I could, readying myself to throw another energy wave.

Things did not turn out as I had planned them. The beast turned to me before I got to where it stood and burned me. I wailed in pain as I rolled over the ground, trying to put out the flames that gnawed my skin. I got up and stumbled upon my feet as the beast slowly moved in for another shower of flames.

I had only one opportunity to survive. I had already gathered enough energy to my hands. I reunited just a little more as the Minotaur lowered its head again. It was now or never.

"HADOKEN!!" I exclaimed and unleashed a fireball that hit the fiend right in its eyes.

The menacing creature bellowed and stepped back, covering its face. I coughed and tried to unsheathe Renamark... but I realized I had foolishly dropped it and the Minotaur was standing right over it. The monster recovered before I could take it. It glanced at me with immense hatred and raised its hand over its head, getting ready to crush me with a single blow. I remained alert, ready to leap aside and run for Renamark the second it attacked.

It all then happened to fast. I heard a click and so did my enemy. The Minotaur turned around too late. The wooden, tipped beam flew fast and true and pierced its chest. The force of the impact was such that it dragged the Minotaur right against the giant gate, where it nailed him like a butterfly pierced by a pin. I turned to the contraction and saw Siegfried staring at the enemy with amazement. I remained still for a few seconds and then hastily picked Renamark up. My eyes darted back to the Minotaur that was spending its final moments in agonizing pain. It twitched and coughed blood as its roars and growls became softer and softer by the instant. Even more blood oozed from its wound and even formed a pond below its horrid body. It trembled one last time and then became very still.

Siegfried and I remained immobile for a few more instants until he came out of his trance and screamed at the top of his lungs:

"YES!! Take that, you son of a bitch!! HA, HA!!" He got down from the mechanism and ran towards me with a huge smile plastered on his face. His happiness momentarily infected me and I smirked too. He put his arm around my neck and patted my back effusively. "We got it, Wilheim! We did it! Man, I doubted we'd get out of that for a second, but that was amazing!"

"Your timing was amazing, Siegfried," I chuckled. "Excellently done. I would not have survived without your help."

"Same here, Wilheim," he said, with a sigh. "I think we're close, big brother... I think we're almost done here!"

"It is still too early to sing your praises, Siegfried. Let us first get out of here and then we shall see what happens."

"I think we need another skull to move on..."

The gates were half-open and there seemed to be another path beyond them. Siegfried enthusiastically stepped forth and beckoned me to follow him. I wished I could rest for a while, but I preferred to keep on moving now that Siegfried was feeling better.

We went up some spiral stairs and soon found another grave in the tallest part of the tower that had apparently been the Minotaur's prison. I pushed the lid aside while Siegfried stepped back and covered his nose. Indeed, the stink was quite terrible. There lay the skeleton of the Architect's second son. Like his brother, he had died during the construction of the temple...

"Your turn, Wilheim," Siegfried said.

"Fine, but you will carry it," I retorted. "I am already holding a skull, in case you have forgotten."

"Okay, okay..."

I was more... delicate than Octavius, so to speak. I did not rip off his skull as if I were uprooting a bush: I decided it would be much better to cut it off. Savage still, but not as much. Afterwards, we closed the casket and headed back to the place with the underwater door. While I waited on the surface, Siegfried put the skull in place and the door opened. The water's level began to diminish as my brother held on tightly to a wall in order not to get sucked into the vortex he had just created. And when all was done, I joined him and we entered the statue.

There was not much there. Only a mysterious mirror and a contraction just like the one Octavius had manipulated before in order to reveal the passageway to the room we had visited so much. There was something obviously unrelated to strength that we had to do there and I was beginning to understand what it was...

"It says something here about a light shinning on this point, Wilheim," Siegfried declared. "I can't make out the rest, but I believe I know what we're dealing with... Do you remember the beam?"

"I was just thinking about it," I replied. "There must be another mechanism within the second ring."

"Let's go look for it."

Indeed, there was another apparatus within the second ring. Moreover, the roller had disappeared. I do not know at what point within our mission we had found a switch to make it go away, but I cared little about it. As long as it did not come back, we were all right.

"Let us line up the corridors," I said. "We should begin with the outermost ring."

"Got ya," Siegfried said as we both raced to the first mechanism.

In a matter of minutes, we had aligned the corridors and were ready to shoot the beam of light. When we did this, we activated a new mechanism; the statue became an immense elevator. We entered it and felt how it delivered us to the highest part of the temple. Siegfried's excitement grew as we approached the end.

"We'll be with Ukyo and Octavius in no time," he assured.

"I am sure we will..." I murmured. I did not have the courage to tell him that I did not remotely believe that our journey was over.

The doors opened. We came face to face with a chain of deadly mountains. And guarding the path, was a lonely satyr. Upon laying eyes upon it, Renamark began to burn within its sheathe. The creature looked at us and gave us a ghastly smile. Very soon, three other companions joined him and they began to attack us.

Siegfried was caught off guard, for he truly did believe that we had passed all challenges. He only managed to defend himself, but did not score a single attack. For my part, the sight of those monsters filled me with rage. I fought carefully, always hiding my sword from those creatures, for they were prone to fall victims to deceive. Unlike the last time we had met, I killed them quite quickly.

I slaughtered the first one by driving Renamark through its chest. The second tried to attack me meanwhile, but I kicked his spear off his hands and head butted him. Before he could recover, I crushed is skull with my foot. The other two were too busy trying to murder Siegfried to notice me. I killed the third by quietly moving behind him and then beheading him. The last one noticed me before I could slay him with my blade. He spun his spear against the two of us, managing to knock Siegfried down, yet unable to move me from where I stood. I got a hold of his weapon and brought down Renamark with all my fury against it. Since fury fueled my attacks, this time the wood was unable to withstand the steel and the satyr was left unarmed. I then threw a straight punch at his face, rendering dizzy with that single attack. Before he could fall, I grabbed his head and bashed it with my knee. The satyr fell on his back. Finally, I finished him by delving Renamark into its chest. It had been a short fight.

I sheathed my blade and glanced at Siegfried. He sat on a corner against a wall and was seemingly disappointed. Sadness and anger festered in his eye. He banged the floor with his fist and let out a long, loud growl.

"What the hell is it with this goddamn place?!" he yelled. "It has no freaking end!! I thought we were done... I thought we were done..." he then embraced his knees and buried his face in his legs.

I gave him a moment to digest the fact that we had still a long way to go. I myself was not feeling too happy, yet I was nowhere near giving up. I could see pressure and despair were working their way into his head and he was beginning to lose sanity. I do not remember ever being harsh with him before... but I suppose now was a good occasion.

"Get up, Siegfried," I said in a low voice. I waited for nearly half a minute before repeating the order, this time much less gently. "On your feet."

"Let me rest for a while," he replied with the same tenderness which I had talked to him.

"You have had your rest," I pressed. "Come on. There is still a long path to travel."

"More the reason to rest, don't you think?" he practically defied.

"Fine. Then stay here. I will go rescue Ukyo and Octavius."

I began to walk away from him. He remained sitting there a little while longer. His tantrum was all but vexing me: I had more important things to worry about. It seemed that the only way to go forth was to climb the mountain before us. Its surface was of the same sort of the one we had seen when we had arrived on the world. Climbable... but it would be dangerous. Besides, I could see that there were undead soldiers crowding the areas farther ahead...

"Wait up," Siegfried grumbled as he got off his buttocks and approached me at a very angry pace. He stood before me and gave me a furious glare. I simply ignored him. "So, what's the plan now?"

"We climb," I answered calmly. "Get your sword ready. There are many legionaries up ahead."

"Wonderful."

The task was nothing like walking by the beams a hundred meters above Hades's statue. This time, I really felt afraid. Thankfully, fear fueled my skill with the blade and I managed to defeat every single soldier that crossed our path sustaining only a few minor wounds. Siegfried was hurt too, but his cuts were not grave, either. Afterwards, we came across a few more traps – a room riddled with spikes that came out of the ground after valuable seconds, for instance – yet the challenges were not very numerous. Their quantity was more than compensated by their horrid location at the top of the mountains; there were cliffs all around us. One false move meant certain death. At that moment, fear was truly gnawing at our hearts...

We finally reached a small temple that stood across a chasm. It was guarded by many enemies. Legionaries, Cerberus's pups, cyclopes, satyrs... It appeared that there was something very important in its interior. For the first time, I truly believed that we were approaching the end of our journey.

The gates to the inside of the temple were shut and would not yield even to Renamark's flames. Siegfried soon noticed two switches: one right by the temple's side and another one that stood strategically placed across the chasm. Since the door to the temple was divided into three separate sets of gates, we figured there would have to be three switches. Hence, we still had to find one.

As we looked for it (and after having defeated the hordes of monsters that had attacked us), I came across a piece of stirred ground. Upon noticing the loose soil, I fired an energy wave at it and discovered a hidden chamber that housed the third switch. Smiling to myself, I activated it.

"Siegfried!" I called. "Have any of the gates moved?"

"Let me see..." he replied. "Yes! One of them has! Did you find the final switch?"

"I have. Help me bring one of those statues to keep it activated!"

The switches within the temple's side did not represent any problems. The other one, however, meant jumping through a series of moving platforms... One of the most horrid traps the Temple of Pandora had. Only I returned to activate the mechanism, while Siegfried stayed by the gate (much to his discontent, for he had wished to come with me, yet I would not let him).

I soon realized this last switch did not need to have additional weight to remain active... for too long. After a mere minute, the thing became inactive once more. I would have to make a run for it, since there was nothing to aid me keep it turned on.

The race across the chasm nearly gave me a heart attack. As I leapt from one platform to the next, barely studying their movements (for I had done this before, but much more carefully and calmly), I felt that I would break through the platform and fall to the endless pit below. It was indeed a nasty sensation.

"Come on, Wilheim!! Hurry up!!" Siegfried pressed. I wish he would stop 'cheering' me up and get inside the temple while the gates were open.

At last, I made it through the chasm and followed my brother as he entered the temple at last. The doors closed behind us just as we crossed the threshold. And once inside, we both truly felt like vomiting – for the unbearable stink of death and rotten blood had made that place their home. Two carcasses lay before us: a man lying on a wooden table, his blood spilled all over it, and a woman at the end of said furniture, with a knife buried in her ribcage.

"Oh, crap!" Siegfried exclaimed, covering his nose, with his hands. I did the same with my shirt. The scent of my own blood, sweat, and burnt skin were barely as terrible as the stink that festered there. "Oh, man... This isn't a temple... It's a freaking tomb!"

"Blast this odor!" I muttered. I approached the man's body and studied him carefully. There were many papers by his side; and all of them depicted very familiar sceneries. "I wonder if..." I murmured to myself as I tried to read one of those documents. It turned out to be a letter of some sort. "Siegfried..." I said, as I read it as best as I could. "I think this is the Architect's tomb... and this is him."

"Really?" he asked and went by my side. "What does it say?"

"He felt abandoned by the gods, I believe. I think he killed his wife... That should be her, I reckon," I added, pointing at the woman's cadaver. "He went mad."

"After building this building of death, I'm not surprised that he did."

"What about the other papers?" I asked. "I do not suppose they are all letters, since they have sketches on them."

"Let me see..." He began to eye them while I studied the tomb. There was nothing much in it.

The white walls were the chamber's greatest adornment, unless, of course, we count the skull-shaped door at the other end. I looked at it carefully and chose to use the woman's skull as a key. I decided that it was more logical to think that the Architect would have built that to be opened with his wife's head rather than with his own. Gently, I cut the neck and opened the door.

"Wilheim, these are the temple's traps!" Siegfried exclaimed. I instantly ran to his side and studied the drawings with him.

"I knew it..." I mumbled.

"Do you understand what this means?" he asked. "We can see what we're dealing with! We can see what the traps that we haven't been through are about and we can anticipate them and think of a way to go through them without having to risk our lives so recklessly!"

"That is a great idea," I said. "Let us see, then... That is the room with the moving saws. We have already been there."

"The chamber with the trap-floor. Done that..."

"We have been in that place, too. That is the piston we found in the maze near Hades's statue."

"There's Atlas statue... My God, Wilheim... We've been through all of this!" Siegfried exclaimed. Again, he was getting excited, for he once more believed we had reached the end. "See? We've been through here and here...! And—!"

He stopped breathing as we eyed the very last piece of paper. This diagram depicted a most terrible challenge. The drawing was the one of a long room with moving floors and spike-riddled rollers stuck on the walls. Static grounds were in fact traps that activated flamethrowers like the ones that had taken Octavius's life. It was a horrible scenery and it was also supposed to be swarming with deadly fiends. Archers and harpies, or so it said...

"We have not been here," we both murmured with a disappointed sigh. At least Siegfried had not crumbled before despair again.

"Is that the last paper?" I asked.

"I think so," he replied. "Yes: that's the last sketch."

"We have looked at everything else and we have recognized every trap the temple contains. That means this will be our final challenge."

"I guess you could say that's the good news," he sighed. "But, have you looked at the sketches? This thing is death..."

"I refuse to quit when there is only one more device to overcome," I said firmly. "If you want, we can rest for a bit. But we are going to defeat this temple now and return life to my darling and the valiant were-bear; mark my words."

"Then let's go now," he answered. "I don't want to stay here, with the dead bodies: I can't stand this stink much longer."

We exited the tomb and savored the fresh air like never before. Right ahead of us, was a small mountain which had been beautifully carved into Zeus's head. There was an entrance that led to the mount's interior. We followed the path and came before some stairs that led down. With our guards raised, we descended. After a few moments, we stopped and took a deep breath: the challenge we had seen on the diagrams lay before us. There were still no enemies on sight, yet we were certain that they would come. Yet it was the final test... one more.

"One more," I said in a low voice. "Let us conquer this cursed place."

"Onward, then," Siegfried sighed.

The moment we took a step forth, the trap activated. Like we had seen in the diagrams, the floor began to move towards the spike-riddled rollers. Magical barriers appeared at the entrance and exit of the chamber: we had been locked in that torturous place. What we had not expected was the speed at which the ground move moved. We began to run in the opposite direction as quickly we could and barely advanced. It was moving exceedingly fast. Not only that: our enemies had begun to take form. Archers appeared on the switches (without activating them, of course) and harpies swooped from the other side of the chamber and flew at us, their talons aimed at our heads.

Dozens of arrows flew at us. Siegfried did not have as much trouble as I did in evading the arrows, for his sturdy shield stopped most of them. I had to dodge them and swing Renamark as accurately as possible to avoid getting hit. But things turned much harder once the harpies began their attack. It was very hard to keep them away and to evade the arrows at the same time. In a matter of seconds, I had been cut by the harpies' claws at least three times. I swung my fist and sword at them desperately, but they dodged the blows with the greatest ease. As for Siegfried, he relied on his shield and his blade to keep the monsters at bay. He was faring much better than I.

"Get away!!" I cried as I felt the harpies bury their talons on my skin over and over again. "Damn beasts!"

"Wilheim! Use Medusa's head!" Siegfried suggested.

"I—AHH!!" I yelled as I felt an arrow scraped my arm. "Those archers are going to kill us if this keeps up! Take the gorgon's head! I will deal with those bastards!"

"Wilheim!" he exclaimed as he caught the skull I tossed at him.

I swung Renamark with all my strength and drove the harpies away even if for a bit. Then, I glared at my first prey. I began to run faster (for my speed had diminished over time) and got on the next sliding floor. More arrows flew at me as I began to run in the opposite direction. The roller nearly crushed me, but I managed to get away from it. I was about to pounce upon the legionnaire when another group of harpies attacked me.

"Blast!!" I cursed.

"Hang on, Wilheim!!" Siegfried yelled. I turned to him and noticed he had already gotten rid of the beasts that had been attacking him. Medusa's head had turned out to be a real blessing at that moment. My brother ran towards me and raised our trump card. "Don't look!!"

I hid my face behind Renamark's blade as the gorgon's head worked its magic around my enemies. One by one, the harpies turned to stone and fell on the ground. The floor carried them to the rollers and they were instantly crushed by their tremendous force. Before long, Siegfried had delivered me from all those foul, flying creatures. Now, it was time to unleash my fury upon the archers, before more harpies came.

I used all the power of my legs to jump at the nearest archer. I landed right next to him, well aware that I had only a few seconds before I activated the flamethrower. I evaded the final arrow he shot at me and then kicked him onto the moving floor, where he met the same fate as his fellow beasts. I then jumped away right when the flamethrower activated and scorched the air about it.

The arrows rained upon me mercilessly. I do not have the least idea of how I managed to stay untouched by them for so long. But even though I was doing quite well, I still remained unprepared to face another group of harpies. Of course, before long, yet another group of flying monsters appeared in the battlefield and charged against me.

"Again?!" I wailed. "Confounded pieces of filth!!"

"I'm coming, Wilheim!" Siegfried cried. He readied himself and traversed the moving floors as quickly as possible and got beside me. "Turn!" he instructed as he unleashed the fury of the dead gorgon's glance.

One by one, the harpies fell and were quickly obliterated. When they were gone, the archers fired a volley of arrows at us. Siegfried had to fall back while I pounced at my next victim. A swift blow of Renamark immediately obliterated my foe. From there, it was back to the race for my life.

A final trio of harpies attacked, only that this time, they flew straight against Siegfried. He raised Medusa's head, attempting to defeat his enemies like always... but the archers had foreseen this. One of them fired a deadly arrow that hit my brother right between his arm and his forearm. Siegfried cried with excruciating pain and dropped the gorgon's head. Our trump card was reduced to blood and pulverized bones by the rollers.

"_SCHEISSE_!!" he wailed.

"Siegfried!!" I exclaimed. I was so concerned about my brother that I did not take into account that I was also being attacked by the archers. A painfully well-placed arrow in my shoulder soon reminded me of this. "AHH!! DAMN!!"

"Wilheim...!" Siegfried cried while he used his shield to defend himself from the harpies' onslaught. His arm had been rendered useless, but the wound had not been fatal. He was lucky the projectile had not gone through his elbow.

"I will take care of this...!" I growled and removed the arrow from my body. One more pounce, one more enemy that went down. Yet before the archer died, I snatched his bow and an arrow. As I raced through the moving floors again, I shot a projectile at one of the harpies, piercing its foul heart, killing it instantaneously. My aim was still true, fortunately.

Another volley speeded against me. I managed to evade all of the arrows. What was more, I even managed to get a hold of it. I hastily placed it on my bow, pulled the string and let it fly. The second harpy met its death at my hands. There was now only one fiend left attacking my brother. I prepared myself to snatch another arrow from the air and use it to save Siegfried once and for all.

The bows of my enemies released one more volley. I placed the bow on my back and used Renamark to fend most of them off and got ready to catch one. Yet I miscalculated the arrow's trajectory and the projectile pierced my hand.

"BLOODY HELL!!" I roared as pain shot through my palm and extended to my forearm.

"Wilheim!!" Siegfried cried in fear upon seeing the nasty wound I had taken. There was still one harpy left and it was impossible for my brother to kill it at the moment; he could not wield his sword with that hurt arm of his.

"I will kill you all...!!" I hissed. Again I leapt at the next switch and slew another legionnaire. The ache was almost unbearable, but at least it limited itself to my hand and forearm. I had to sharpen my senses: so far, I had received two shots and I had been lucky that it had not been in vital places.

Only four archers remained, but one of them was behind me; he was the one who had shot my hand. The other three I could handle if I was quick enough... but that son of a whore was really making things difficult.

I heard a loud cry and turned about. Siegfried had managed to smash the harpy's head with his shield and had knocked it down. The beast was unable to fly again and the roller killed it. He then ran at full speed at the lonely archer at my rearguard and leapt onto the switch with him. The undead soldier faced him and tried to knock him down with a blow from his bow. Siegfried blocked the attack and pushed the enemy back. It was then that I realized he had remained in that place for too long.

"Siegfried, get out of there! You are going to get scorched!!" I exclaimed.

The flamethrower activated and my brother leapt away. The enemy was completely incinerated; Siegfried escaped the flames for the most part. However, his legs caught fire. He cried in pain as he fell onto the moving floor. By divine work, he landed on a place where instead of a roller, he faced one of the switch's sides. He put his legs against it and remained lying on his back as the floor continued to move. The ground shredded the lower part of his pants, but at least it put out the fire. Nevertheless, the floor was tearing Siegfried's back apart. Soon, I saw that his blood was beginning to cover all of the ground.

"Damn it!! This ends now!!" I wailed as I heard him cry in ache. I ran to my opponents with mad fury, not minding the arrows that they shot at me. I destroyed two of them; the final projectile hit my thigh. Pain fueled my rage (rather than actually making me trip) and I charged against the cursed warriors. I kicked the first one against one of the rollers; the second I destroyed by slashing his chest with Renamark, and killed the third by grabbing his head and leaping away from the flamethrowers (which I had already activated) with it and then slamming it against the ground.

The moment the final undead soldier stopped shouting, the gears stopped. The floors became still and the switches were rendered useless. We had won. I fell on my back and let out a loud sigh. It was then that I remembered my wounds and the blood that was escaping from them. I put Renamark on the ground and pulled out the arrow in my thigh. I let out a long wail as an unbearable sting shot through my leg. With tears in my eyes, I picked up my blade and cut the ends of the projectile that had pierced my hand. Then, I pulled it out. Another wave of indescribable pain... I felt as if I were about to faint. Luckily, the pain soon diminished. But I was far from done... I had to cauterize the wounds. Yet I then remembered Siegfried...

"Brother...!" I muttered, struggling to my feet and running to him. He still lay on the ground, barely moving, moaning as blood gushed from his back. "Siegfried... turn around."

"I'm dying, Wilheim..." he murmured, with tears in his eyes. "I'm losing too much blood..."

"I will fix that immediately," I assured. "One last effort, little brother: turn around."

"Are you going to cauterize it?"

"It is the only solution I can think of. Bite down on this," I said, handing him a piece of the arrow I had pulled from my hand.

"Oh, crap..." he whined and did as I asked him. His back looked like ground meat. It was a horrible sight. I took a deep breath, forcing myself not to cry at the sight of my brother so hurt. Renamark started to moan as I waked it up. I placed the sword on Siegfried's back and the flames spread all over it. "Ahh!! Damn!! Damn, damn, damn, damn!!"

"Almost done..." I murmured. My blade's fire was magical: that wound would have been incurable otherwise, save maybe by healing spells. But Renamark saved Siegfried's life, even if by a very painful way. "There."

"_Scheisse_..." he sobbed in a low voice as the piece of wood fell from his mouth, all soaked in his bloodied saliva. "Oh, God..."

"Now your arm."

"No, please! I'm all right now, I'm all right!"

"Give me your arm!" I scolded. There was no time for arguing.

"My God..." he murmured and reluctantly obeyed as he bit down on the arrow. I took a deep breath and started to cure his wound. "AAARGH!!" he cried. While I stopped the flow of blood, his inner muscles were still practically destroyed. I really hoped we would find a magician or potions soon that could mend our bruises. Otherwise we would end up riddled with scars, a useless arm, and a hurt leg.

"There, Siegfried. You are really all better now," I said with a weak smile.

"You think...?" he muttered as he sat down and leaned against the switch's wall. "Dear God, it hurt so much..."

"Now it is my turn," I sighed. I grabbed the arrow and bit it down (I am sure you understand that was not the time to be picky about my brother's spit). And then, I began to cauterize each of my wounds. I too yelled many curses and moaned horribly as Renamark's flames licked my skin. But in the end, I was in better shape, too. I sat beside my brother as I dried the tears that had escaped my eyes. "Done... all done."

"At least... we're finished," he mumbled. "But we need a bit of rest, whether you like it or not, Wilheim."

"This time, I completely agree with you," I replied. "After that endless race, we truly deserve a prize."

He nodded and said no more for a while. We remained there, catching our breath and trying to mentally suppress the pain for a long time. And during our rest, fear invaded me. Kratos had said that there was only a slight chance of getting my beloved back. We had bet our lives relying on that small opportunity. What if all of this had been for naught? Would my heart be able to resist the failure? Or would I cast myself into a chasm, in hopes of meeting her in the other world? I had no intention of committing suicide... yet I feared that my grief would turn to madness, like it had done once.

"Are you rested?" I finally asked Siegfried, choosing to ignore these thoughts.

"Yeah," he said. "Here we go..." he grunted as he got on his feet. He had barely managed to do so. Then, he offered me a helping hand and pulled me up. We had to put some of our weight on each other's shoulders; he was much weaker than me, whereas I could barely use my leg. "Come on."

We had to get rid of our shirts, for they were all torn up (Siegfried's was in a slightly worse state than mine) and were getting in the way of our movements. And so we limped onto the stairs before us and soon entered the last chamber of the temple. The room had crystal walls and was adorned by three imposing statues: one depicted the god of the ocean, the other the god of the Underworld, and the third one the god of Earth. Poseidon, Hades, and Zeus looked at us with, one would say, a satisfied glance as we approached the center of the room, where Kratos awaited us. He stood still, his arms crossed before his chest, an expressionless stare on his eyes. We stopped before him and waited for him to say something.

"I must say," he began. "I didn't think you would make it. I'm very impressed."

"For a moment we thought the same," Siegfried muttered. "But here we are."

"We have completed your test, O, God of War," I said. I reckoned that adulating Kratos would be better than to simply demand from him. "Will you bring back my beloved and our friend?"

"I can't bring them back," he replied. "We will go to the Underworld and see if they have not plunged onto the river of death. If they have, then there's nothing capable of bringing them back."

"And if they haven't?" Siegfried asked, trying to muster a bit of hope.

"Then I will lead you all out and that will be the end of it," Kratos answered. "Now, are you ready to enter the realm of the god of the dead? I will warn you now, because you have earned my help: it is a very dangerous place."

"I've been there already," my brother claimed. "We fought against many Heartless there."

"We are ready," I assured, my heart pounding ferociously, overcome by fear and doubt.

"You may have entered Hades's lair, but this is another part of the Underworld," Kratos warned. As he spoke, the entrance to the chamber closed and we began to descend at a great speed. I became a bit alarmed, yet soon regained my cool and listen to the God of War's words attentively. "This place is where all dead folk enter when life leaves their bodies. It is a cursed place that has been overtaken by monsters: a demonic world ruled by fear, blood, and death. You have no idea what you will face."

"Well... you will help us, correct?" I dared to ask.

"Like I said, you've earned my help," he said and unsheathed two swords which were chained to his arms. These blades glittered with a golden color as he tightened his grip on them. Siegfried and I looked at each other and with a sigh, brandished our own weapons. My brother chose to leave his shield hanging on his back; he could not carry both things because of his hurt arm. As for me, Renamark had never weighted as much as it did at that moment.

My nerves were about to drive me insane. My breathing sped up and I began to tremble. While Kratos had his back turned on us, Siegfried noticed this and put his hand on my shoulder. I looked at him as he smiled softly, trying to comfort me with his gentle glance. I tried to return the gesture, but was unable to do so. With a sigh, I turned away and held my chest as if that would keep my heart from bursting out of my ribcage.

Everything turned dark for a moment and then the shadows yielded, revealing a hellish scenery. The sky was now a curtain of blood and the floor had turned to living, pulsating flesh. We were on a live platform, over a river that dragged souls like fish trapped on a net to God knew where. The place that Dante had described in his poem would have been a paradise compared to this. Well, maybe not so... but it was indeed a ghastly sight.

"Hmm..." Kratos mumbled, taking a step forth. "I sense death and I smell blood. Nonetheless... I can feel three living presences."

"Living presences?!" I exclaimed. "Does that mean...?"

"Could be them, but it's only a possibility."

"Are you kidding? It has to be them!" Siegfried laughed. At that moment, the pain that tormented him almost vanished and he even ventured to take out his shield. As he held it, his face was twisted by ache, but he did not care. "Where are they? Let's get to them and then leave!"

"Kratos...?" I muttered, eyeing him.

"I told you, boy, I don't know," he growled. "It's likely they are your friends; only powerful folk survive here. Now, let's hurry to them: this place will drain our strength if we remain here too long and you can barely move."

"The Underworld's curse," Siegfried muttered as we followed Kratos's lead. I continued to limp as I walked: rather than joy, doubt was festering in my heart. "Wait... Do you mean it affects you too, Kratos?"

"Only Hades is unaffected by this place, obviously. Even we gods need the help of an item which, unfortunately, was stolen not long ago."

"That is odd..." I said.

"Indeed."

"Kratos, has Hades always been such a jerk?" my brother questioned.

"Many years ago he really lived up to his title of God of the Dead," Kratos replied. "When he helped me defeat Ares, he was a really imposing god. Now he is little more than a buffoon. I suppose ruling over the Underworld for so long had that effect on him."

"I see. Interesting..."

Kratos did not make any inquiries as to why we knew the God of the Dead. I supposed he already knew about our adventure, but did not venture to speak with him. I was not in the mood for chatter.

"Blast," I muttered upon noticing four hellish harpies that flew our way. "Not those creatures again!"

"Leave them to me," Kratos said as he spun his blades. "They're but pebbles in my boots and I will kill them right now."

The creatures swooped against us. Kratos unleashed his fury: he threw one of his blades at the monsters with the speed of a bullet, tearing the harpy apart. He twisted the chain and slaughtered two more monsters. The final one managed to reach him, but that was a fatal mistake. The God of War grasped its wings and grunted as he pulled them apart. In a matter of seconds, he ripped the enemy in half. He put away his blades and kept on walking in silence.

"Wow..." Siegfried murmured.

"What power!" I exclaimed in a whisper.

"Save your praises. There is still a long path to travel and I won't do all the fighting," Kratos informed.

"Don't worry; we're ready. Right, Wilheim?" Siegfried said, turning to me. He was behaving rather kindly to the god that he had wanted to kill hours before. I guess the euphoria was affecting him more than it affected me. Better said, I had none within me.

We faced many more foes afterwards. These were much stronger than the ones we had fought inside the Temple of Pandora. Or maybe, I was simply too tired and too nervous to fight properly. Siegfried had done much better than me and, well, I suppose it is needless to say that Kratos had not even been touched. He did not suffer even the slightest scratch during our en

I had to overcome the pain of the new wounds I had acquired and continued to follow Kratos and Siegfried quietly. My heartbeats echoed in my head. Suspense had never been so torturous.

"You know? I just hope that Hades doesn't show up," Siegfried declared.

"He won't," Kratos assured. "He doesn't come into this part of the Underworld. Not since Ares's minions overran it."

"Oh... so the things we've been fighting have been Ares's lackeys?"

"Precisely."

"How far are these folks, Kratos?" I asked.

"We're almost there," he answered.

He led us to a most awful place where many platforms of flesh stood far away from each other. The only things that joined them were rolling logs made out of what appeared to be muscles and fibers and bones, which were riddled with blood-stained blades. The very sight of them chilled me to the bone. How the blazes were we going to get past that? And to think that I had a hurt leg...

"Look," Kratos said aloud, turning to us. He pointed at the other end of the chasm, where a large platform (which did not have those horrid rolling logs, thankfully) stood. "Are those them?"

My heartbeats became soft as the strength of my legs failed me for an instant. On the far end of the platform, stood three figures. I was unable to discern who one of them was... but I knew the other two. I knew his tall, muscular shape... and I most certainly knew her slender figure, her lovely body, her beautiful eyes... They were alive.

"Wilheim... It's them!!" Siegfried laughed as tears assaulted his eyes. I began to weep happily as well.

"UKYO!!" I called at the top of my longs. "UKYO!! OCTAVIUS!!"

"GUYS!!" my brother yelled.

Our friend and my beloved turned to see us. They had barely heard our voices. Although I could barely discern her face, for she was very far away, I saw my beloved form a dazzling smile upon her lips. She raced to the edge of the platform and waved happily.

"Wilheim!! Siegfried!!" she cried. Octavius joined her and let out a relieved sigh, but he did not smile (naturally).

"HEY!!" I laughed joyfully. Yet then, I became quiet. At last, I noticed who the third being was. His long, silvery hair waved back and forth as he walked to the corner and faced us with a dry glance. When he realized my terror, he smiled wickedly and shadows covered his brow in a most eerie way. "...No..." I muttered.

Ukyo noticed my sudden fright and glanced at Sephiroth. Then, she took a step forth and yelled as loud as she could: "It's okay, Wilheim! He's with us for the moment!"

"I didn't think I'd be seeing him again," Siegfried murmured. He paused and then put his hand on my shoulder. "Calm down, Wilheim. He won't harm them."

"How can you be so sure?" I questioned. "That monster is capable of anything!"

"Listen, I know what you're thinking, but last time, he fought alongside us, and—"

"I know," I interrupted. "Ukyo told me about it. But I still cannot trust that weasel."

"I know exactly how you feel. Trust me, though: he's harmless. At least for now..."

"I pray you are right, Siegfried..."

"Which way is the exit, Kratos?"

"They are nearest to it," the God of War said. "Your luck amazes me. Yet now we have to cross this chasm. It will be difficult... watch your step."

"We're coming, Wilheim!" Ukyo exclaimed.

"No: stay there!" I replied. "The exit is that way! Do not move!"

"Oh...! Okay!"

"All right... Where did Kratos...?" I began to say as I noticed the God of War was no longer by our side. It turned out that he had already crossed one of the rolling logs and was well on his way to reach the other party. "Well, he is a god: he has the upper hand, after all."

"Do you think you can make it, Wilheim?" asked Siegfried.

"I have to: there is no other way. Besides, my beloved is waiting on the other end. I cannot think of a better incentive."

"That's the spirit," he chuckled. "Okay... Listen, those things stop for a moment and then start rolling on the opposite direction. We can wait until that happens and then run through them as fast as we can. What do you think?"

"I think it is a very good idea, though my leg will be killing me afterwards, for sure."

"Look at the bigger picture! Let's get going!"

We patiently waited until the right moment to begin our race. The log started to slow down. That was more than enough for us. Since Siegfried could run faster at the moment, I let him go first. We crossed the first obstacle with little difficulty, though my leg was hurting like never before. I fell on my knee and struggled to catch my breath.

"Are you okay, brother?" Siegfried asked.

"It hurts... and I am dead tired," I answered. "I suppose that seeing them made me relax. Perhaps too much..."

"We'll get all the rest we need afterwards, okay? Right now, let's just get there."

"Right... right..."

The next rolling log was much more of nuisance, for it had many more blades that we had to evade to get across it. During the final part of our rush, I felt that I would lose my footing. Thankfully, that only happened until I reached the next platform.

Kratos had already reached the other side and stood silently alongside Octavius, Sephiroth, and Ukyo, waiting for us. His emotionless expression made him look like Octavius's brother. But at that moment, the were-bear showed concern and so did, obviously, my beloved. As for Sephiroth... well, I reckon I need not tell you.

"This is it, Wilheim!" Siegfried exclaimed. "One last freaking log!"

"We will be there soon, Ukyo," I said to her, unable to contain a happy smile. "Do not worry!"

"Be careful, baby!" she replied.

"Now!" my brother announced and we begun our final run.

Yet this last obstacle behaved differently than the others. It did not remain static for long and soon began to roll in the opposite direction. We nearly fell down, but mustered enough speed to outrun the log's deception. My darling yelled in fear as she saw us nearly slip. We kept running as fast as we could, hoping it would stop soon and would let us resume our race. We were cut by the blades, but just barely. Still, it was very unpleasant to be riddled with bruises again.

The log stopped spinning. Unfortunately, there was a blade in our path. Even so, we decided to take our chances in going around it than to run through the turning cycle again. It nearly turned to be a fatal decision. While Siegfried made it through without much trouble, my idiotic leg failed. I yelped as I lost my balance and fell.

"WILHEIM!!" Ukyo screamed in horror.

Fate was kind enough to provide another blade that kept me from falling. I was horribly cut, but was still alive. With a grunt of pain, I got back on my feet and finally crossed what was left of the log. I fell on my knees and gasped for breath. Yet then, I felt a heavy weight fall upon me and I fell on my wounded back. But I did not care the least. For that blow had been my beloved, who had embraced me with her sweet arms and was showering my face with tears and kisses.

"You came...!" she said. "Wilheim... Baby... I was so worried! You came!"

"Of course I did," I murmured tenderly, kissing her, unable to hold back happy tears. "I once chose death to save you: now I chose life, for only by surviving would I save you... like you saved me."

"Baby... I love you..." she mused. We remained on the ground, hugging for a long while, relieved to feel each other's warmth. Her fragrance penetrated my nostrils, depriving me from all sense, all reason, and flooding me with love and passion. To hold her was a sweet addiction which I would never renounce to.

"I love you too, darling..." I murmured.

I then let out a grunt as I felt a new weight crash against us. It had been Siegfried, who had joined the hug. It was then that I realized that I had not held my brother for years: not even during our journey within the Temple of Pandora. I laughed upon realizing this and held both of them with great joy and kissed their brows.

"I love you both..." I gently said.

"If you are quite done, perhaps we could get out of here?" Sephiroth muttered.

"Party-pooper..." Siegfried chuckled as he and Ukyo helped me to me feet.

I stared at the fiend with a serious glance. I was really tempted to withdraw my sword and behead him right then. But it seemed that diplomacy was the word of the day.

"I didn't expect I'd be seeing you again," he said with a smirk.

"After I saw Cloud kill you, I was beginning to have doubts as well," I retorted dryly.

"Now, now, let's be nice," he chuckled. "You wouldn't want to kill the man that saved your girlfriend, would you?"

I turned to Ukyo with a questioning glance. She shrugged and nodded silently. I sighed and turned away from him.

"As long as you do not try anything, we will be fine," I said. I then walked up to Octavius and smiled again. "I am glad you are all right."

"Thank you," he said, shaking my hand. I knew he would do something of the sort. That is why I did not embrace him.

"Kratos, thanks for all your help," Siegfried said.

"Thank me once we've left this place," the God of War replied. "For now, follow me. The exit is very close."

"Darling, do me a favor," I murmured as we resumed our walk.

"Anything you want, Will," she said tenderly.

"Take Renamark and cauterize the wound on my back. I am losing blood again."

"I don't like this, but I suppose it isn't a bad idea."

As she went behind me, I heard my sword's moans the moment Ukyo waked it up. Only she had the power to do that, besides me. Then, came the familiar pain of being burned by those flames and the smell of sizzling flesh. I grunted and then fell on my knees as the wound closed. It had been a nightmare, but at least I still had blood coursing through my veins.

"I'm sorry, baby," she apologized as she helped me up.

"I asked you to do that; do not worry," I replied. "Could you just hold on to it for a little while longer? I can barely move..."

"The curse of the Underworld has affected you much more than all of us, it would seem," Octavius pointed out.

"I'll help you, brother," Siegfried offered as he and Ukyo put my arms around their necks and helped me walk. I noticed that with each step, my brother twisted his face with ache; the wound of his arm still hurt him very much. Still, he was doing his finest effort and I was very thankful that he aided me and so I said nothing. "You know, it's so good to see you two together," he observed as he looked at Ukyo and me.

"It's great to see you two together, brother-in-law," my darling giggled. I was glad to hear her say those words.

"We're here," Kratos suddenly announced.

If come from another person, I would have taken that statement as a joke. We were standing at the edge of a cliff and before us lay the vastness of the river of the dead. There were no stairs or anything that indicated that we had reached an exit. Nevertheless, we had no choice but to trust the God of War. However, some indications would not hurt.

"Um... so, where's the way out?" Ukyo asked.

"Your mortal eyes cannot see beyond the veil Hades has set here," Kratos mused with a smile. And I had thought that seeing a smirk on his lips would be rarer than seeing one on Octavius's face. "Follow me."

He confidently stepped forth and then vanished. We looked at each other with amazement and gulped.

"No wonder we never saw it," Sephiroth murmured. "Well, if that is the way to leave this damn place, then let's get to it." He marched forth and disappeared like Kratos.

Octavius followed them silently. We took a deep breath and they carried me to the exit. The bloody sky reeled back and revealed an eerie cavern. A river of phantoms flowed at our feet, chilling us as it brushed against our legs.

"Not again!" Siegfried whined. "Not... Wait a minute! I know this place!"

"This is Hades's lair," Kratos said. "You will find the Coliseum that way. It's what you were looking for, correct?"

"We were," Octavius said. "Let us go, then. This curse is beginning to vex me."

"This is where I leave," Kratos announced. "I have other business to attend to. I reckon you will be able to get out of here on your own: there isn't much danger here."

"Well... We understand," I murmured. "Thank you for your aid, O, God of War."

"I will see you again," he said and then he vanished into thin air.

"Not the talkative type, is he?" Ukyo murmured.

"We are lucky he helped us. I suppose that answers your question," I replied.

"Let us leave this place. I surely do not feel like meeting Hades again," Octavius declared.

"I hear that," Siegfried murmured. "Let's go."

We walked towards the exit, wherever it was, passing through many passages and corridors, short and long. We did this silently, and if it would have not been for Sephiroth's presence, I daresay it was a tranquil silence. Despite the hideous place, it was a peaceful walk. Soon, we would all be together with our friends. I could not wait to see Sora, Adrian, and the others. And now that I thought about it, I supposed Octavius would be glad to see Felicia. Of course, Siegfried would be happy to see everyone. I was not sure, however, if he would get along with Baiken...

"The exit!" he exclaimed. "Oh, thank God! There it is!"

At last we could see the sky. I did not remember being so happy to look at its nocturne veil. At last we would get out of that awful lair. We walked the stairs before us and left the Underworld. The familiar sight of the Coliseum's Gates put a smile upon our faces. No doubt our friends were behind those gates.

"Well, I can't say it wasn't a pleasure," Sephiroth announced. "I'm off. Have a pleasant evening."

"Wait a minute!" Ukyo exclaimed. "Where are you going?"

"Where do you think? I still have a mission to accomplish."

"Sephiroth..." my brother muttered. He walked away from us and stood before the dark man. "Why don't you come with us? I mean, you still don't have any powers, and—"

"Not now, but I will, soon enough."

"In that case, then it would be foolish of me to just let you go," I grumbled. I walked to him and unsheathed Renamark. However, Ukyo caught up with me and put her hand on my shoulder. "What—?"

"Baby, let him go," she requested.

"What...?"

"Sephiroth..." Octavius intervened. "We once fought alongside each other. I have never liked you, but I admit you were a good companion when the time came. Stay with us. If you so wish, we will let you leave, but mark my words: the next time we meet, it will not be under friendly terms."

"I'm well aware of that," Sephiroth replied dryly.

"Sephiroth... Please," Siegfried sighed. "Maybe it's... I don't know..." he gathered all of his courage and then he said something I never thought I would hear from anyone who talked to that dark fiend. "I don't want to fight against you."

"You cannot choose everything in life, Siegfried," he replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me..." he walked away from us, but soon stopped. He hesitated for a moment before turning about and saying: "If it comes to any consolation, I don't feel like killing you either. Not after what you've done for me. Believe it or not, I am grateful. But my mission is more important than gratitude."

"Are you certain?" I ventured to say. If Siegfried had said those words, if Ukyo had kept me from slaying him, then maybe there was a molecule of decency within him. "We defeated you once; we are certainly capable of doing so again. Stay out of our way... or join us, if you want."

"I appreciate the invitation, Wilheim," he chuckled. "Yet I have to respectfully decline." He then turned around and before leaving, he said: "Farewell, fellows... May we never meet."

We sighed as he disappeared by one of the corners and shook our heads. But before we could make any comments about this, a small figure came running to us at full speed.

"Hey!! Were-bear! Girl!!" he wailed.

"Isn't that...?" Ukyo muttered. "Phil!"

The little satyr stopped before us and put his head between his knees, desperately gasping for air. "Boy, am I glad to see you here!" he exclaimed, between gasps.

"What is that sound?" Octavius suddenly asked. "Do you hear it?"

We all became quiet and listened carefully. Very soon, we discerned roars, pain-filled yells, and battle-cries. A fierce clash was taking place inside the Coliseum... The chat with Sephiroth had distracted us from it.

"A monster's destroyed the Coliseum!" Phil exclaimed, to our dismay. "Hercules can't fight... Your friends are doing everything they can to stop it, but it just keeps spawning more heads! That thing... it's an abomination! We need your help!"

"More heads?" we all murmured at the same time. "A Hydra!"

"They should know best not to cut the head off a Hydra's neck!" I exclaimed, feeling strength return to my legs.

"Unless they can cauterize the w—!" Siegfried began to say, hushing as he realized the meaning the words that came out of his mouth had. We turned to each other and smiled.

"Ukyo, dear, give me back Renamark, please," I said.

"Are you sure you can do it, baby?" she asked, handing me the sword. "After all you went through..."

"Just one more battle and then I will sleep for a day," I chuckled confidently and Renamark began to burn within my hand. Seeing me so convinced caused Ukyo to smile and nod. She unsheathed her spatula and Octavius brandished his katana.

"Then let's kill that thing!" my darling exclaimed and so we raced to the Coliseum's gates with a loud battle cry.

"Good luck!!" Phil exclaimed, remaining behind.

The doors suddenly slammed open. Sakura's body had served as a battering hammer and had unlocked the gates. She had evidently been thrown at them with tremendous force. She shook her head and sat down as she exclaimed: "I'm all right!"

"What happened, Sakura?" Ukyo asked and kneeled beside her.

"Oh, Ukyo! Wilheim! You made it back!" she exclaimed. "Where did you—! Oh, Siegfried and Octavius! You're here, too!"

"Is that the Hydra?" I asked while I looked at the monster with multiple heads before us.

"How did you know...? I mean, yes; that's the Hydra! We're trying to play bait while Donald heats up the weapons... But he's too weak! He's taking so long to do it!"

"Then he better find a way to make haste," Octavius said. "Then I shall go have my katana boiled."

"We should all go," Siegfried suggested. "Except you, brother. You can start chopping off heads now."

"Indeed," I said. "I can see our friends... There is Sora!" I whispered excitedly upon seeing the lad fighting so courageously against the bloodthirsty monster. He had truly grown and his skill with the Keyblade was even more amazing than before. Seeing him made me so thrilled that I forgot that he was struggling not to get eaten by the giant Hydra. "Go heat up your weapons: I shall put an end to this fiend's confidence."

"Be careful, honey," Ukyo said, turning my head around and giving me a quick, good-luck kiss. "Don't make me go look for you back in that horrid place, you hear?"

"I promise I will not," I guaranteed and then ran as my legs could carry me (doing my best not to heed the throbbing that ran through my thigh) with my sword raised over my head.

Sora seemed exhausted. He could barely stand up. Three heads were attacking him and had managed to slightly bury their fangs into his skin. The Hydra swung one of its skulls against my friend and finally knocked him down. The beast then unleashed the final blow at Sora, who could only resort to try to protect himself with his Keyblade. At that moment, I let out a loud cry and leapt high into the air, distracting the monster. I landed in front of Sora and furiously brought down my blade. The Hydra screeched in horror and yanked its headless neck away from us. Renamark's flames burned incessantly, gnawing the wound, closing all veins and arteries. The monster still possessed an alarming number of heads; yet now it knew we could hurt it. This first successful blow had been but a warning.

"Stay away from my friend, fiend, lest you want all your heads to taste my inferno!" I challenged.

"Wilheim!!" Sora cried with happiness. "It's you!!"

"Come on, Sora," I said and helped him up. He smiled joyfully upon seeing me alive. I returned the gesture and then said: "We will catch on later. For the moment, let us just concentrate in beating this thing."

"You got it, bro!" he exclaimed enthusiastically and raised his guard. Seeing that my mere presence had returned him his strength made me very glad.

However, there was no time for overconfidence. The Hydra quickly beat off the rest of our friends off it and concentrated every one of its heads on us. I put Renamark in its scabbard and waited for the first attack. After a few seconds, five heads lunged at us with blinding speed. Sora leapt aside and used the magic of his Keyblade to partially freeze one of them. I sidestepped and then cut said skull with a swift, upward motion. The Hydra roared and attacked again. My friend and I were unable to withstand so many strikes and were forced to retreat.

"Will cut off two of its heads!" Ranma exclaimed from afar.

"They're not growing back!" Ken added enthusiastically.

"Let's help out!" Ryu yelled and he and the others raced to where we stood and started to hit the heads with moderate strength. None of them wanted to accidentally destroy another skull without first making sure it would not grow back.

This gave us time to take a breath. I turned back to see how the others were doing. It appeared that Donald was not as weak anymore: I believe that seeing Ukyo and I had the same restoring effect than with Sora. He had nearly heated up all the weapons. Many blades were already red hot. Soon, Adrian, Leon, and Baiken got a hold of their arsenal and charged against the Hydra.

"I've got an idea!" Sora unexpectedly said. He took a deep breath and then whistled as loud as he could. Answering his call, a beautiful, white Pegasus with blue mane swooped down from the sky and carried us upward. My friend grabbed its neck, while I was forced to hold on to his waist. "That Hydra's got a surprise incoming! Pegasus, charge!!"

"Just try to remain a bit steady; I could FAALLL!!" I yelled as my entrails crashed against my heart. The speed at which we were descending was rather terrifying.

While we caught the attention of many heads and began to fight them from the Pegasus with wild swings, our other friends had made much progress. Leon had leapt onto one of the Hydra's necks and had driven its sword through it. The sizzling, red steel caused the monster to screech and shake in horrid pain. But the more it quivered, the easier it was for Leon to decapitate it. Jam and Baiken, most surprisingly, worked as a team to destroy two more heads: both of them lunged at Jam, who skillfully leapt over them and dizzied them with a brutal kick. Seizing this opportunity, Baiken caught one of them with her claw and pulled herself towards it. With the momentum she gained, she was able to slash both necks with a single swing.

As for the crazy vampire, he stood still and waited for a head to attack him.

"Oh, no!!" he falsely cried and raised his hand. A spring activated and his little, hidden sword flew at his victim, getting stuck in its throat. "I'm sorry!" he supposedly apologized. "That wasn't supposed to happen! Here, let me remove it!" he then leapt onto the creature's neck and killed it with a single swing from his scythe. "...Crap, where's my blade?" he chuckled, jumping at the inert head and sticking his hands into its neck. "Oh, gross!! This isn't how I planned it!" It surely was not the right moment, but seeing him search for his sword in that display of madness made me laugh.

Nevertheless, I soon stopped chuckling and concentrated on our enemy. Pegasus started to evade the speedy attacks that the numerous heads launched at us. While our ride was very skillful, it was a danger to me, for I could barely hold on to Sora to prevent falling down. Thankfully, the flying horse managed to keep us on its back and got us out of that mess.

One of the heads attacked from the side and, with blistering speed, I unsheathed Renamark and cut it off. However, at that very same moment, another head stroke from behind. Pegasus thrust forth just in time to save me from being swallowed whole. However, the Hydra's fangs did cut my back (as if I did not have enough wounds). The pain was such that I dropped my blade.

"Wilheim!" Sora exclaimed with concern.

"I'm all right!" I assured, placing a hand on my wound. "Just keep flying... Damn it... My blade!!"

The monster knew Renamark was one of its biggest threat at the moment. Seeing that its flames had momentarily gone, for it was not in my power, it threw one of its heads at it, its jaws wide open, ready to devour it as if it were an ant. Yet to its most unpleasant surprise, my Ukyo appeared out of nowhere and caught it, reviving its blaze with her touch. She then swung it in a circular motion and beheaded the monstrous head.

"Ukyo!!" Sora yelled, energized with an excitement I had never seen in him. "Yeah!! Way to go!!"

She remained still as the remaining heads started to surround it. Siegfried and Octavius joined her and began to harass the monster with swift pokes. The were-bear did his best to score a certain blow, yet the Hydra was no longer attacking. Only six heads were left; the fiend feared its death.

"Wilheim!" yelled Goofy, from the ground. I turned to him and saw him throw something at me. "Catch!"

I did as he told me. It had been Ukyo's spatula, which was now burning red. I smiled and thanked our friend with a wave.

"Good going, Goofy!" Sora cried. "Ready, Wilheim? I'm taking us back to the fray!"

"Go right ahead, my friend," I said confidently.

"Go, Pegasus!"

Our mythic ride neighed and speedily flew at the Hydra. The fiend was distracted with the rest of our friends; this gave me more than enough time to spin my darling's weapon with great force and cut off two more heads. For his part, Sora cut off a single head and before it could regenerate, he fired a potent blazing projectile at the neck. The sizzling vital fluids of the monster let us know that its regeneration had been successfully foiled.

"I wouldn't have been able to do that before!" Sora laughed.

Three heads remained. The Hydra desperately tried to kill us with a swing of one of its heads. If it would have hit us with full force, it would have probably fulfilled its purpose. However, Baiken threw its chain at it and pulled with all of her strength, absorbing most of the blow's power. We were still hit, though, and I nearly fell down. Sora caught me by the arm, fortunately.

"Hang on! I'm getting you down!" he exclaimed.

But before he could get me to safety, the monster attacked again. I had to let go of Sora before he got hurt. For my part, I defended myself by swinging my darling's weapon at the fiend's jaws, causing it to snap its neck back. I looked down and instantly realized that I would at the very least break a leg. Yet out of nowhere, a white and blue shape appeared and caught me. We hit the ground and rolled over it many times. I got a few bruises, but nothing more. My savior, however, did not have a single scratch. Felicia had always been used to such acrobatics.

"Are you okay, Will?" she asked with concern.

"I am, thank you," I answered. "That would have hurt a lot if it would not have been for you. But now, let us rage on against that blasted thing!"

"I don't think we'll need to, honey," she said in a low, relieved voice and pointed at the beast.

The Hydra was now living its final moments. Adrian swung his boiling scythe and cut off one head; Octavius held another by the neck and then beheaded the fiend, and finally, Ukyo leapt at the last head and cut it off with a swift, single blow. The headless Hydra at long last fell flat on its side. But just to make sure, the massacre went on: my darling ran with Renamark and cut the monster lengthwise; Jam gathered a great deal of energy to the palms of her strong hands and unleashed it against the belly of the beast, causing Renamark's fire to spread faster; Sakura, Ranma, Ryoga, Ryu, and Ken fired energy waves at it, and Siegfried filled the Hydra's back with holes made by his sword. The fiend was most definitively no more.

I could not help but to let out a very long and very relieved sigh and sat down.

"Thank God..." I murmured.

"We were worried sick about you," Felicia said. "And what the heck happened to you? You look like you were run over by a truck and that then he put on reverse and squashed you again."

"It was not exactly that," I chuckled. "Whatever the case, do you know what I am thinking about right now?"

"I could take a guess..."

"About how much I will enjoy these next few days: because we will use them to take a break."

"I was way off," Felicia giggled. "Of course, Willie. You look like you deserve a rest. And so does Siegfried."

"Yes, he d—Ouch!!" I grunted the moment Sora impacted against me. He had run at me and had knocked me down with his effusive hug. I noticed that, even though he tried hard not to, he was crying tears of joy. I laughed patted his back. "I'm also happy to see you, my friend!"

"You have no idea, Will!" he laughed.

"Oh, God... Oh, no, you—no, no, no! AAH!" I cried as two more weights landed on me. Naturally, those had been Donald and Goofy. I laughed even more as they friendly scratched my head.

"We thought we'd never see you again!" Goofy said.

"We missed you so much, Wilheim!" Donald quacked.

"I missed you all too, my very dear friends," I replied. I still had some strength left... I decided to use it to give them a good squeeze. They deserved it after all.

"Ah! Ouch! Easy!!" Sora laughed.

"Cut it out!" Donald added merrily.

"I see you've grown stronger!" Goofy exclaimed.

I let go of them so they could get back on their feet. Then, they all helped me up. The rest of my friends came to meet us and Sora hastily dried his tears. Then, he saw Ukyo and realized his attempts to hide his weeping had been in vain. He ran to her and they hugged fiercely, laughing joyfully.

"Ukyo, I'm so glad you're here!" he exclaimed.

"I'm happy to see you too, sugar," she replied, gently rocking him from one side to the other. Donald and Goofy quickly joined the embrace and Ukyo giggled even more and kissed their cheeks caringly. Meanwhile, the rest of my companions greeted Siegfried happily. Octavius received a warm welcome too, but he at the most shook hands with the fellows. Felicia, though, greeted him quite dryly. I suppose I could not blame her. Yet he did not seem to care... As for Baiken and Jam, they merely stood apart and watched silently for the time being.

Leon then walked before me and smiled.

"It's good to see you again, Wilheim," he greeted.

"Likewise, Leon," I replied and offered a friendly hand. Rather than stretching it, he pushed it away and embraced me. A strange gesture in him, but I suppose I understood and very much appreciated his affection.

"What about me? Aren't you going to say 'hello'??" asked Adrian from behind, slapping my shoulder with an open hand. The hit did sting. I turned to him and punched him on the arm, to which he emitted fake whines mixed with laughs, just like he knew how to do it. "What's wrong with you? First you don't greet me and then you attack me?"

"You started it, goat," I answered. That was a little nickname Ukyo and I had for him, and the reason was quite simple.

"I'm not a goat!!"

"Like I always say, you certainly are as mad as one," I chuckled and gave him a friendly hug. "You look like you could drink some blood, my good vampire."

"You look like you should ride an ambulance."

"You had us worried sick, you know," Baiken's voice suddenly claimed. I turned to her and unavoidably smiled. I would never think she would say something like that. "Jeez... you look like crap, Wilheim. Yo, duck!" she called. "Why don't you use your magic to heal Will, before he passes out? And that other guy, too... I missed your name," she told Siegfried.

"Baiken, this is my brother, Siegfried," I intervened. "Siegfried, these lovely ladies are Baiken and Jam."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Siegfried said, offering his hand. Baiken nodded respectfully and shook it unquestioningly (unlike me, my brother did notice her right arm was missing). He then approached Jam and raised his eyebrows and smiled. "Wow... a pleasure indeed," he mumbled as he bowed and kissed her hand. "How do you do?"

"Gee, your brother's nothing like you when it comes to the shyness department, Will," Jam giggled. "No family resemblance, but equally handsome, I must say." Siegfried did not expect that compliment, but although he blushed, he did not lose his cool.

I had truly missed seeing my brother court women. He had always been the bravest of us, when it came, as Jam so delicately put it, to the shyness department. Yet before I could continue enjoying the sight of my dear friends, Baiken approached me and whispered into my ear:

"Didn't you say your brother was killed?"

"He was," I replied. "However... somehow he came back to life during our previous quest, when I gave up my heart to save Ukyo. It is a bit complicated."

"Well, you'll have to tell me about it later, because I'm pretty confused."

"Surely, Baiken."

"Okay, Wilheim; Siegfried..." Donald muttered as he stood before us and cast a powerful healing spell. The wounds all over our bodies vanished under a green, comforting haze. It had felt like a soothing rain. Soon, there was not one bruise on our skin. We were only, simply put, dirty and tired, and so was our brave magician. "I can't cast another spell today," he declared, sitting down. "I'm dead tired..."

"Me too," Felicia said. "We should look for shelter and rest for like... a few days."

"I second that," Sakura said.

"Make that three," Ken added.

"I don't suppose we should ask for votes, huh?" Ryu inquired.

"Dude, we all want to rest," Sora chuckled. "Besides, Siegfried and Wilheim looked pretty beaten up. And now that we're at it, how come you guys are exhibiting yourselves?"

It was not until then that I recalled that Siegfried and I had to take our shirts off at the Temple. I blushed and gulped as all my friends laughed. Siegfried, however, did not seem so ashamed.

"They just wanted to give us girls some eye-candy, that's all," Jam said. I could feel my face burning...

"We should leave this chat for latter," Octavius dryly intervened. "I am afraid that the dawn is nearing and we must look for refuge if we are to keep the bloodsucker alive."

"'If we are to keep the bloodsucker alive'," Adrian mimicked with a shrill voice. "'If we are to keep the bloodsucker'—AAAHH!!"

"Your infantile test of will will not—" the were-bear began but was instantly interrupted.

"AAAHH!! Test of will!!"

"You are a buffoon, blood—"

"AAAHH!! Buffoon!!"

I really tried to contain my laugher. But I was unable to do so, the same as almost all of my friends. Octavius purely limited himself to turn around and walk away from us without saying another word.

"Adrian...!" Felicia exclaimed, looking at him. She had been one of the few that had not laughed, yet a smile had inevitable spread on her lips.

"AAAHH!! Adrian!!" he yelled. More laughter.

"Adrian!!"

"I've been good!"

"Oh, the heck you have! But I'm so happy that our friends are okay that I'll keep my promise," she said.

"Oohh, I love you!" he cheered.

"Are you okay?" Leon suddenly asked Baiken in a low voice. I had no idea what he meant at that time.

"I share Hello Kitty's feelings," she calmly replied. "I'm just happy Ukyo and Wilheim are all right."

My darling and I looked at each other and smiled. I do not believe that she meant to say that. Nevertheless, the words had escaped her lips and she knew there was no way to undo that. It was good to know that she was still capable of caring. Her heart had not been completely devoured by her horrible past.

_(Change of scene)_

Hercules offered us his home so we could spend the next few days in there, resting for future battles. He did not accompany us, for he went to the Coliseum and tried to clean up the mess the Hydra had made. He seemed awfully depressed, but I do not think that was reason not fight against that terrible monster when he was so needed. Naturally, though, I did not say a word to him. He did not even recognize me, for all I knew.

The hero's house was an immense palace. It had a pool, many gardens, exquisite statues... I never imagined the hero to leave in a place like that. For the moment, however, I chose not to think about it and enjoy the paradise as much as I could. We decided to sleep until the afternoon. When the sun hid under the mountains, Adrian drank a bit of Felicia's blood. I still do not know if Jam let him drink from her as well. She never told us and I never had the courage to ask her; and Adrian left no marks. Those of us who did not feed on blood feasted on a banquet that Ukyo, Jam, and Felicia kindly prepared after a nice, comforting bath (the smell of blood and sweat can be somewhat terrible after a while, obviously). I cannot remember how much I ate. What I do know is that after my last bite, I instantly returned to sleep. It had been the best meal I have had in a very long time. And I do not feel ashamed that I did that, for most of my friends did the same thing. We were all too tired.

In the middle of the night, I felt a soft touch. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Ukyo. She was kneeling by my side and smiling tenderly, curling her fingers on my hair. I smiled as well and kissed her.

"Hello, darling," I greeted.

"Hi, baby," she whispered. "How are you feeling?"

"Still rather tired," I admitted. "I think I will be fine in the morning."

"We still have another day, you know."

"I am well aware; I think I will seize it with another long nap."

"Are you sure you're that tired, honey?" she asked.

"Well, we did tell you all about the Temple of Pandora," I replied, shutting my eyes.

"I see..." she murmured. "That's a shame, you know. Because I was sort of thinking that maybe you and I could... you know."

Let us admit it: who could be that tired?

I slowly sat down and looked at her. Her eyes were filled by a sensual glitter that made me blush and her smile reflected her loving lust. If I went back to bed, I most definitively would not be able to get any sleep. She had trapped me with the greatest of ease and I was more than willing to give myself to her.

However, one question remained.

"What if the others wake up?" I muttered. Though the house was large, all the men still slept in one room and all the women in another. We could not afford to get caught by the Heartless separately.

"This place is huge. There's the garden, the pool, any other room you want, the kitchen..." she said. She had gone insane. Certainly, she was as eager as I was. My mouth trembled with excitement.

"I... but what about Adrian? He is surely awake, and—"

"We ask him to take a hike," she giggled. "He'll understand. Plus, he already had some fun with Felicia and, assuming he drank her blood, Jam."

"All right," I yielded. "Take me to wherever it is you want to consume me..."

She gave me a quick kiss on the lips and grabbed my hand. We silently left the room with our snoring friends behind. We crossed a large hall and entered the kitchen, where we froze in our tracks. Baiken, Sora, Goofy, Ranma, and Siegfried were up, having themselves a little midnight snack. Luckily they were almost done. Unluckily they had seen us.

"Hey, guys," Sora greeted cheerfully. "You're hungry, too?"

"Um... yeah," Ukyo answered after a few moments. She then let go of my hand. "I guess we woke up at the same time..."

"Cool. Then grab yourselves a bit of the leftovers," Ranma suggested. "You know, I really don't know what is it with Akane. I'm going to have to talk to her tomorrow. I'm tired of her giving me the silent treatment..."

"Well, just let her know that you're sorry," Goofy suggested.

Meanwhile, Ukyo and I walked by them and sat down. I let out a long sigh as the beating of my heart drastically returned to normality. Frustration even kept me from grabbing some food and the same went for my darling.

"I'm not sorry, that's the problem," Ranma said. "It's just that... Oh, she can be a pain sometimes."

"Come on, Ranma, try to be a little more sympathetic about her thoughts," Siegfried advised. "That ought to work just fine. Right, Wilheim?"

"Yes, I suppose so," I murmured, not even knowing what they were talking about.

I do not know why Baiken had remained there for so long, listening to a type of conversation she clearly detested. I suppose it was because she wanted to have a smoke. Or maybe it was because she had had another nightmare and was seeking to clear her mind from the horrors of her dreams by hearing idle chit-chat. Whatever the case, I did know that she noticed the precarious situation Ukyo and I found ourselves in and in a gesture of ultimate kindness, decided to help out.

"All right, kids," she said aloud. "Back to bed."

"What do you mean back to bed?" Sora asked. "Ukyo and Wilheim just got here and I haven't seen them in a long time."

"You'll have plenty of time to talk with them tomorrow," she retorted. "We've stayed here for too long and you've had your snacks. Come on, off you go."

Ranma, Goofy, and Sora looked at each other and shrugged. They decided it was better not to argue with her and wished us a good night and left. Siegfried, though, did not know Baiken as well and obstinately remained on his sit.

"What part of 'back to bed' did you not understand?" the woman asked, but, thankfully, very calmly.

"Hey, it's my brother and my sister-in-law. I want to stay with them for a while longer. I haven't seen him in such a long time," he replied.

"I repeat: you'll have your chance tomorrow."

"Come on, Wilheim. Tell her not to be teasing us like that," he mumbled, looking at me.

Ukyo had been looking at the floor during all this time and her glance had not moved. I knew what she was thinking. He had to leave. And so, I gave him a fierce look and said with a nearly desperate smile:

"Must I spell it out for you?"

My brother looked at me for a few seconds with a puzzled expression. But then, his eye shone bashfully and he gulped.

"Oh!" he exclaimed in a low voice. "Oh, oh, oh! I... Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized and finally got up. "Well, I'll leave now... Good night, brother."

"Sleep well, Siegfried," I answered, putting special emphasis on the word 'sleep'.

"Good night, sister-in-law."

"Night, Siegfried."

"Good night, Baiken."

"Go on, get out of here," Baiken replied and chuckled as he hurried outside of the kitchen. She took a final zip of water and then walked toward us as we got up. "Try not to make a lot of noise," she whispered.

"We'll do our best," Ukyo giggled, squeezing my hand excitedly.

"You two owe me big time."

"That is an understatement," I said. "Baiken... if you see Adrian..."

"I'll beat him to unconsciousness," she said. After a pause, she chuckled and went on. "I'm kidding (though I would certainly like to do so). I wouldn't worry about him. He went out for a walk, I think. Chances are you won't see him around here until dawn."

"Okay, got ya," Ukyo said and dragged me out of the kitchen. "Thanks a lot, Baiken."

"Thank you, Baiken!" I added in a whisper.

"Just don't wake me up," she said and then left.

Well, I suppose this is where I must stop. Let us just say that, when we did get some sleep, we dreamt of beautiful sceneries and wonderful music. The loving duel against my beloved granted me more strength and energy than any nap or banquet could ever have...


	10. Chapter 9: Wolves and Tigers

Hey, guys

Hey, guys. I'm finally back :P I guess apologizing is useless... You surely know what happened already.

This chapter is a very special fragment of the story. The world that appears here is based on a MMORPG (Massive Multi-player Online RPG) that I've played for a while now (if you're an old reader, chances are you already know what I'm talking about). I've been thinking about writing this chapter for about a year and a half, but it hasn't been until now that I finally got the chance to do so. The game I'm speaking about is called "Air Rivals" (formerly "Space Cowboy Online"), and is property of Gameforge and Yedang.

Moreover, this chapter is dedicated to my very good friends, the Wulfpackers, the Tactical Aggression gang, and to other fine fellows of the Air Rivals community. And also, a very special thanks to Maici, who helped me with most of our comrades' descriptions and trades, and to my friend Adrian Araya, who helped me write this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it, guys :D

Seems I finally managed to upload the entire chapter at once. If you see one less chapter, don't be alarmed: it's still all in here :P

Until next time, have fun!

_Chapter Nine: Wolves and Tigers_

_Narrator: Wilheim_

After a most well-deserved rest, we reluctantly decided that it was time to move on. Sora had already found the land's Keyhole right at the same time he had given the Olympus Stone to Hercules. It turned out that things did not work the same way as before.

The hero seemed utterly depressed, still. I could only hope that he found the strength of the Olympus within and that he would use it to counter any perils, should they attack the land again or if Hades planned another offensive, because something told me that Kratos would not be around to defend the folks about.

Whatever the case, we said our farewells to Hercules, Phil, and Meg, promising that we should return soon to make sure that everything was all right. We had to split into two groups, since now we were much more numerous. Unfortunately, my darling to go on the separate ship, arguing that she wanted to train a bit with Baiken and Jam and that she thought I needed to spend some quality time with Sora, Donald, Goofy, and my brother.

"I can be with them and with you at the same time, you know," I retorted.

"Yeah... but I'm sort of a distraction," she giggled. "Don't worry, baby. It's not like we'll be apart forever. Besides..." she leaned forth and whispered into my ear. "Baiken refuses to ride the same ship as Adrian. I think she can't stand him."

"That is odd. He seems to like her."

"Yeah, but you know her... Anyway, you're not mad at me, right?" she said in a sweet voice, embracing me lovingly.

"Of course not," I replied. "I will miss you. That is all... Promise me you will be careful."

"You too. And don't worry: we'll see each other when we touch land, okay?"

Even so, I regret to say she assumed too much...

_(Change of scene)_

In the end, we resolved that Sora, Donald, Goofy, Siegfried, Ryu, Ken, Adrian, Akane, Felicia, and I would occupy one ship, while the rest of our friends would fly the other. It appeared Ranma and Akane were still mad at each other and did not want to speak for a while. I supposed a little break would give them time to think about each other's feelings. However, I was certain all would go well.

Despite my darling's best intentions, I did not have much time to chat with my dear friends, because Adrian kept bothering me most of the journey. We had not seen each other in a long time, so I suppose the desire to pick on me had accumulated over the months and now he was letting all his buffooneries loose with enormous zest.

"I think you're exaggerating with the whole Temple of Pandora deal," he declared. "You want to know what I believe? I think you're just a sissy!"

"And you have not told this to Siegfried because...?" I muttered, in hopes that he would take the bait and leave me alone for a while.

"Siegfried's not a hunter!!" Adrian yelled.

"Yeah, I'm not a hunter, Wilheim!" my brother seconded. "Shame on you!"

"Be quiet, you," I replied as the rest of our companions chuckled. "Well, you were not there, so you cannot say much, Adrian."

"Sissy!!" the vampire cried.

"Tell me about—" I began to say, but, as I had expected, he refused to let me finish.

"AAHHH!!"

"Will you—?"

"AAHHH!!"

"Stop baaing for once!"

"AAH—I'm not a goat!!" he contested, making all of our friends laugh.

"'I'm not a goooaaat'!" I mimicked, doing my best to sound like the aforementioned animal.

I must say that Adrian is quite difficult to hush once he has begun to pick on someone. However, I had the upper-hand, compared to the rest of my friends. Since Ukyo and I had spent a month with him, we had grown accustomed to his jokes and had found a few ways to stop him. In other words, my darling and I were the only ones that could actually put up a verbal challenge against him. She was even more successful than me, yet I believe that Adrian restrained himself when bothering her. I would say that this was due to the fact that she is a girl... but after seeing him and Baiken, I am no longer sure of anything.

Well, that parenthesis was long enough. Anyway, on with the discussion...

"I can't do that!" he replied, trying not to mind our companions' laughter. "I can't baa like a goat."

"What do you mean you can't? You are doing it right now," I contested.

"I'm not baa—" he started, but now it was my turn.

"'I'm not baaaaa-ing'!!"

Our friends laughed long and loud, momentarily discouraging the vampire. He remained silent and pointed at me with a 'menacing' finger. Nevertheless, Sora approached him and said, with a chuckle:

"He got you. Sorry, dude."

"Silly mortals," he 'grumbled' and crossed his arms. "I'll get you, Willie."

"Yes, yes, whatever you say, pen-animal," I replied.

"Hey, that was sharp!" he grunted and there was more laughter. "I don't have to take this! I was in 'Nam!"

"Somehow, I seriously doubt that..."

"Hey, Wilheim," interrupted Siegfried. I noticed he wanted to change the course of the conversation... Well, better said, he was tired of our dialogue. "So... Do you know if Jam has a boyfriend?"

I could not help but to blush and let out a chuckle.

"I should rather think that she has not," I replied.

"What's that blush, huh?!" Adrian demanded. "I'm going to rat you in on your Mrs.!"

"It's not that, Adrian," Felicia intervened with a giggle. "It just so happens that Jam sort of likes Wilheim."

"Oh, boy!" Sora exclaimed. "What's Ukyo's opinion on that?"

"Well, when they first met, their relationship was... a bit sensitive," Ryu said.

"'Sensitive'?" Ken murmured, turning to his friend with a frown. "That's the understatement of the year, Ryu. Look, let's put it this way: they hated each other. Having them together was a lot tenser than having you and Baiken close to each other," he added, turning to Adrian, who merely laughed.

"Really? That bad?" asked Goofy. "I would've never expected that. She seems like a good person."

"She is, but she can be a little... bitchy when she wants," Akane clarified with a smile. "Anyway, that seems to be over now, thankfully. Has Ukyo told you what happened, Wilheim?"

"I was there when they made peace," I said. "My darling won her with her cooking. She became fascinated with my Ukyo's cooking. But before that, I really feared having them together... Before they called each other by their names."

"Aww!" Adrian intervened, seizing the opportunity to pick on me again. "Were you scared? Were you cold?"

Nevertheless, I had the perfect reply for that.

"I was not cold, since most confrontations happened during the day. The sunlight, as you know, is quite comforti— Oh! I am sorry: you would not know."

"...Rats!" he whined, snapping his fingers. He was the only vampire whom I dared to bother about sunlight.

"But, was it really that bad?" questioned Donald, returning to the subject.

"Let me put it this way," Ken explained. "Remember what Baiken said about Jam kicking the crap out of Ukyo? Well, it went a bit something like this..."

He narrated the entire incident, much to the amazement of my brother and those who did not witness that horrible fight. I still felt terrible as I remembered how my darling was brutally defeated by a very superior warrior and could not stop thinking that all of that had partially been my fault. Nevertheless, I forced myself to remember that it was all over and that at that moment Jam was probably teaching Ukyo how to become a more proficient fighter.

"Wow..." Sora murmured as Ken finished his narration. "That sucks... I never thought Ukyo would lose to that bad to someone. I mean, she's a great fighter... and she's been practicing, right?"

"Oh, yes," Akane answered. "She's become far stronger than Ranma. To my liking, she's as strong as Wilheim. Not in strength, but she possesses other attributes."

"Dang..."

"And the way I see it, Baiken's still tougher than Jam," Felicia said. "So you better watch what you say to her, crazy goat."

"I can't help it!" Adrian chuckled. "Exasperating her is really fun! And easy..."

"Not to the rest of us, Adrian," Ryu said.

"But now they're friends, right?" Siegfried asked me, not minding our friends' intervention.

"Well, I suppose it is still too early to call them friends, but I reckon they are getting along," I answered.

"Well, if that's the case, then onto the initial point: does Jam have a boyfriend?" he repeated, making as all chuckle. "What do you want me to say? I really liked her! She's gorgeous, right, Wilheim? And don't give me that 'I just have eyes for Ukyo' crap, because I know you would."

"All right," I replied, with a smile. "Yes, I admit she is very attractive."

"'Attractive'?" Ken said. "Come on, Willie! You have to say things like they are: she's a fox!"

"She's got very nice legs," Adrian added with a grin.

"Yeah... she's really pretty," Sora agreed and blushed. "Especially... well, like Adrian said."

"We noticed, shorty," the vampire said. "You were like: 'I'm S-Sora, the K-K-Keyblade m-master... I love you'."

"No, I wasn't!" the lad whined, turning even redder, while the rest of us had a good laugh.

"Hey, we're here too!" Felicia meowed as she pointed at Akane and at herself.

"Aw, you girls are pretty too!" Ken exclaimed.

"At least pretend you're not giving charity," Akane grumbled.

"No way! Aren't they pretty?"

"Of course they are," we all instantly replied and followed those words with as many praises as we could think of, trying to sound as mocking as we could; nevertheless, all our flatters had been sincere. They eventually smiled and shook their heads.

"So, what do you think, guys?" Siegfried pressed. "Should I go for it?"

"By all means," Ken said. "I think you have a good chance, especially since you're Will's brother."

"Sweet," my brother murmured, rubbing his hands enthusiastically.

"You're a pig," Adrian said and they all laughed.

"Hey, Wilheim," Felicia called. "I'm picking up a transmission from our friends' ship: your Mrs. wants to talk to you," she added, with a smile.

It was then that Adrian was unleashed and this time, I was unable to shut him up.

"OOHH!! The mighty whip!! CRAACK!!" he cried as I got on my feet. "Better pick that up! Your mistress might punish you if you take too long!"

"Be quiet," I answered as my friends chuckled at me. I sat down at the controls and happily greeted Ukyo. "Hello, dearest."

"Hear him!" Adrian yelled and then began to talk with a high-pitched voice. "'Hello, dear! Hi, sweetie! I'm Wilheim and I'm very big and strong, but when my Mrs. calls me, I go all soft and cuddly!' SISSY!!"

I was almost unable to listen to my darling as the entire ship roared in laughter. The crazy vampire had truly cornered me this time.

"Hey, baby," answered Ukyo through the communicator. "What's wrong? What's that noise?"

"That is the noise of humiliation," I answered while my friends kept laughing at me.

"'I'm humiliated! I'm a victim of circumstances!'" Adrian kept saying as he began to run through the ship's walls and ceiling. My friends soon found themselves out of breath from so much laughter.

"What's going on in there?" asked Ukyo.

"Adrian is running through the ship like a hamster," I answered.

"Got caught off guard, honey?" she giggled.

"You might say that. Anyway, what is wrong?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to say hi to you. We just finished training and I'm dead tired. Since you're not here, Baiken made me work out as if there were two of me."

"I suppose telling her to take it easy on you is not an option."

"I think it's suicide," she chuckled. "Anyway, it doesn't matter now. I know it'll all be worth it. Besides, now that I'm talking to you, I don't feel as exhausted anymore."

"I understand – listening to your voice is listening to life's most stunning symphony," I replied sweetly.

"'Life's most stunning symphony'??" Adrian cried. "YOU'RE A CREAM PUFF!!"

I was forced to remain quiet for another moment, for my friends' laughs were so loud that they resonated through the communicator and reached my darling's ears.

"Adrian again?" she asked.

"Is it that obvious?" I contested.

"Tell him that if he doesn't quit it, I'm going to punch his lights out," she giggled.

"Vampire, if you do not stop, Ukyo will destroy you," I said aloud. Unfortunately, this announcement only brought me more trouble. And what was worse was the fact that the vampire was not the one who replied.

"Oh, so now you have to hide behind the mistress? Are you incapable of defending yourself?" Felicia said with a loud chuckle.

"OOHHH!! BUSTED!!" Adrian wailed. Naturally, another wave of laughter attacked the ship.

"Not you, Felicia!" I whined. "Out of all the people..."

"You're just asking for it, Willie – I'm sorry," she answered.

"Um... baby?" said Ukyo through the communicator, lowering her voice. "We can all hear your cries from here..." and then, she added in a whisper: "And Adrian's starting to piss Baiken off."

"Did you all hear that?" I asked aloud. An immediate silence befell on the ship except for the vampire, who refused to be quieted that easily.

"I'm not afraid of her," he said with his – as Siegfried so rightly called it – 'got ya' grin. "Besides, she isn't even here."

"Yeah, but it's not like we want all the guys in the other ship to have an awful time," Ryu muttered.

"...Good point," Adrian said. "Okay, I'll quiet down."

"All taken care of, darling," I said to the communicator.

"Thanks... Anyway, Jam and I are going to fix some food. We'll be sharing some recipes, I hope," Ukyo enthusiastically murmured.

"That sounds great... Well, have fun, darling."

"You too. I love you, Wilheim."

"I love you without end, Ukyo," I answered.

"Aw! Without end!" the vampire said.

As the transmission ended, I walked up to him and hit him on the arm a bit hard, I must confess. Nevertheless, he did not seem to be too hurt. He merely rubbed his arm and emitted chuckles mixed with whines. The rest of my friends limited themselves to laugh at his reaction as he fell sideways.

"Why must you turn to violence?" he whined. "Are you incapable of establishing a dialogue?"

"With you, it is quite difficult to do so," I replied. "It is very difficult to communicate with goats, you know."

"You suck..." he murmured and our friends chuckled in a low voice.

"That was a good laugh," Sora said. "You two put up quite a show."

"He is a clown: it is easy to do that," I said. This time, Adrian merely chuckled. I suppose he wanted to rest for a bit before his next onslaught.

"Sora, do me a favor and take over, will you?" Felicia requested as she cracked her back. "I've been piloting this ship for about ten hours..."

"Sure thing," the lad said. "We've got a long way to go before we reach another long world. You have to rest as much as you can."

"Thanks... I'm going to hang around, but I'm going to try to sleep a bit," the cat-woman declared as she lied down on the floor and, without asking for any permission, put her head on my lap. "Just don't make a lot of noise."

"Why don't you go to a room?" asked Siegfried. "You're guaranteed to sleep over there."

"I want to be around you," she meowed sweetly. She then turned to me and said: "Come on, Willie. It's not like Ukyo's going to get mad at you for this."

"No, I do not suppose she would," I said with a smile and got comfortable as our friend closed her eyes and yawned.

I reckon we all figured she was a bit upset about Octavius and needed as much tenderness as we could give her. It was our pleasure to humor her. We did not want our most lovable friend to suffer at all from the were-bear's coldness. I understood his reasons, but I was not sure if I approved them.

"In that case, I'm going to try to make us something to eat," Ken announced. "I hope you guys are ready for anything."

"I'll help out, just in case," Goofy chuckled. I was glad Akane did not volunteer. I love my friend, but by God, her cooking is catastrophic.

"Just be sure to make a lot of everything – Ryu seems hungry," Donald quacked.

"I sure am," the warrior said.

_(Change of scene)_

"Guys, come in," Leon suddenly called through the communicator. "Guys, answer, please."

"What's up, Leon? We can hear you," answered Sora without a worry in his voice.

"Take a look to your right, Sora," he instructed.

The boy did as our friend told him and remained silent for a few moments. Then, he muttered in a low, puzzled voice: "What in the world is that?"

Upon listening to him, we all got up from our seats. I gently shook Felicia.

"Wake up, Felicia," I murmured softly. "There seems to be something ahead and we should all have a look."

"Really...?" she answered with a loud yawn and rubbing her eyes. "Okay, then... That's a shame. You're very comfortable, you know... I was having a very good sleep."

"So it seems," I chuckled. "Come on."

We turned to where Sora looked and noticed a very strange structure floating in the emptiness of space. It was a metallic construction with lights on four of its points and what appeared to be four long antennae.

"What the blazes could that be?" I whispered.

"It looks like a gate of some sort..." Ranma ventured to say.

"How can that be a gate, Ranma?" Akane replied. It was notorious that she was still angry at him by the tone of her voice. "A gate to where? It's just a hovering structure and that's that."

"I was just saying, okay?" he grumbled. "Why don't you shut up for once?"

"Easy, guys," Sakura intervened. "Well, it doesn't seem to be dangerous. Do you think we should take a closer look?"

"Sounds good to me," Sora said, overcome by curiosity. We all sat down and buckled our seatbelts as our brave friend slowly directed the ship towards the unnatural structure. Beside us, we saw our friends' ship floating slowly towards the ring.

We flew past its threshold and gasped in surprise and fear as a great force pulled us forth. The lights on the structure shone their brightest as sparkles and stardust engulfed our ship. A beam came through our windows, blinding us with its tremendous intensity for a few moments and then, the curtain of light rolled back, unveiling the space once more. Yet we were no longer in an empty place where all that kept us company were the stars. Ranma had been right: the structure was a gate.

"...Gwarsh!" Goofy finally managed to blurt out. "I thought we were going to crash or something!"

"I thought so too," Donald added. "Hey... Guys, look..." he murmured and his voice revealed tremendous astonishment.

He did not need to tell us that, for we were already looking at it. White, lifeless mountains bathed by a distant sun stood proudly before us. There were craters, too, hiding behind the shadows that the mounts about created. It was a pale desert come from a dream. There was no wind that caressed its dunes; no animals that scavenged among the mounts and pits for carcasses. There was no life in that place, but the ground irradiated a white aura that could very well house the memories and dreams of countless explorers. That made the place a living entity – its mysterious beauty was unlike anything I had ever seen before.

"It's... it's a moon..." Ryoga muttered out of breath.

"My God, it's beautiful," Baiken added in a whisper.

"You're still looking at the moon, guys?" Leon asked. "Do yourselves a favor and turn your heads up."

We all did as our friend told us and gasped in amazement. I still do not understand how we did not notice the natural spectacle sooner. It was an immense planet. I daresay that even Gaia, the largest place we had visited during our past adventures, would only be about the thousandth part of this imposing world. Blue skies, deserts, icy wastelands, green jungles... It was difficult to think of words to describe it. I am sure Holst would have thought of an epic melody to express its magnificence. Unadulterated beauty; it was an enigma hidden in the confines of space. We had been lucky to set eyes upon it. Even our dear Earth seemed to represent but a fragment of this world, which appeared to be nearly as large as our sun.

"I... don't believe this..." Ryu at last managed to say.

"Sakura, take a picture, for God's sake," Ken said. He paused and the let out a chuckle. "A cell-phone is the last thing I would use to capture this moment, but we don't have anything else."

"I understand..." Sakura answered. "My God, it's... I can't... I'm without words."

"It's the most incredible thing I've ever seen," Jam mused.

"Indeed..." Octavius added. After of remaining silent for a while, he finally added: "We have to remain alert. If we are attacked by the Heartless as we are, we will fall with great ease. I believe that the time has come to enter the world."

"Wait a moment..." Sora murmured. "Take a look at the right, fellas."

Beyond the white mountains, there was a space station. A runway seemed to welcome our ships with many sparking lights that glittered incessantly. There was a building with a single, large entrance that could very well house an entire fleet. And as we slowly approached the construction, we realized we were not far from the truth. There were many ships of different colors scattered throughout the runway and inside the structure. Mostly, I discerned four different types of ships.

Two of them seemed like fighters not too different from the ones we had on our homeworld. The first one seemed much lighter and had a much more aerodynamic design. It held numerous, large thrusters and had very complex wings. The second seemed much more resilient, yet it did not appear to be as fast. As our ship approached the runway and we looked at them more closely, I noticed many hatches on its lower part and on the sides of its wings.

The third type of ship, the largest of them all, seemed more like a heavyweight helicopter than an airplane. It had many turrets on board, yet they did not seem as powerful as the ones the former ships had, even though they were less. The cockpit was much bigger as well and the thrusters it had were very small.

Finally, the last type of ship was, simply put, a tank. It had a large cannon on its front part attached to a mobile turret. The thrusters on this machine were just as small as the ones on the third type of ship, and what was more, this fighter seemed to be the heaviest of them all.

Though these were the main four types of ships I distinguished, each was unique, adorned with different colors and attachments; for instance, some tanks had a circular shape which resembled the heavy aircraft very much, while others had small wings on the sides and an extremely large and heavy chassis which made them look like powerful, mobile bunkers.

Despite the large number of ships about, there did not seem to be any activity at the moment in the place. While the lights of the runway did not stop blinking, the building before us was completely shut down. Its windows were covered by a metallic veil and there was not a bulb on. It almost appeared to be a ghost spaceport. Nevertheless, I figured sooner or later someone would come. It was all in an excellent state and the ships did not look broke. It was only a matter of time before the moon covered life.

"What should we do?" asked Ryoga.

"We wait...?" Ken muttered, shrugging his shoulders.

"Or we could take that other gate, perhaps?" Ukyo suggested.

"Another gate? Which way?" I asked.

"On the left, Wilheim."

My darling was right. At our side, hovered another ring. Its lights twinkled just like the ones on the construction that had beckoned us to this deserted place. Perhaps there was life on the other side... Whatever the case, it was sure to get us out of that ghostly scenery.

"I vote 'aye' on the gate," Sora said.

"Okay, then let's go," Leon agreed.

We all held to our seats as we felt the intense pull. Like before, a beam of light blinded us and then faded, revealing a new part of space. We had left the moon behind and we were now much, much closer to the planet. We could see the aura that surrounded its atmosphere upon being bombarded by that distant sun which we had not seen so far.

There was another structure before us, which was very similar to the space station we had seen on the moon. This one, however, hovered silently in the depths of space. There were no ships on its run way.

But before we could explore our new surroundings or make any hypothesis, our radars picked up a signal.

We looked ahead and saw an immense being that had a star-shaped body and a very long tail. It flew through space like a fish swimming through the sea's depths, its red eye looking directly at us. It had a beautiful, dark, blue color that shone as brightly as the planet's deep oceans. Yet the glitter in its eye made us feel we were unwelcome intruders.

"What do we do now?" asked Donald.

Sora shrugged and shook his head, unable to answer the question with words. He remained static as the being approached us. And then, it began to absorb energy into its eye. It was then that we realized we were being targeted.

"Crap!" Sora exclaimed as he brusquely moved the ship aside.

The being fired and barely missed us. Our young pilot retaliated with a shower of our own bullets and lasers. But to our dismay, the bounced off the creature like rocks thrown at a building.

"This is not good..."

"Let's head back to the moon!" Leon said and turned the ship around. Yet our radar only confirmed our eyes the horrible truth. "Oh, my God..."

Five more of those creatures had flown behind our backs and were now blocking our escape route. We held on to whatever we could as Sora and Leon skillfully piloted the ships away from the enemies.

The speed of the fiends was remarkable and constantly shortened the distance between us. We could do nothing but to avoid their shots – a most difficult task, for they were astonishingly accurate. Our pilots were forced to divert the power of our shields to the rear in hopes that this would give us a slight advantage over our invincible enemies.

"We have got to enter the planet now!" Octavius yelled.

"Hang on!" Sora cried as he turned the ship towards the immense world.

"Shit! They're blocking me!!" Leon shouted.

We turned about and saw with horror how the other ship was forced to face the other way and flee, for another group of those creatures had unleashed their potent firepower on them from the front.

"No!!" I wailed, terrified by the thought of losing our friends.

"We'll divert their attention!" Sora said and begun to turn around.

At that moment, the ship trembled ferociously. A loud rumbling caused our hearts to stop for a moment as every single alarm the Gummi ship possessed was activated. Red lights shone incessantly as Sora did his best to hold on to the ship's controls.

"Crap! Crap! Crap!" he yelled. "We're hit!"

"Land on that planet, now!" Leon ordered. "We'll try to lose these monsters by—!"

"Leon, there's a gate up ahead!" Ukyo exclaimed.

"Okay! We'll take the warp! You just get your butts out of here!"

"We're hit! I can't control it!" Sora cried.

"Let Felicia take control!" I suggested. "She is the best pilot for these situations!"

"Okay...!"

The boy and the cat-woman hastily switched seats. Felicia managed to stabilize the ship and began to descend on the planet. But even her innate skill as a pilot was not enough to evade another deadly shot come from those monsters.

The blast reached our ship and we completely lost our shields. Felicia was unable to steady our vessel as it started to fall to the planet with the speed of a meteorite.

"I can't control it!" she wailed. "They hit our engines!"

"No, guys! Guys!!" Ukyo yelled through the communicator. "Don't die—! Wilheim—!" her voice was lost in the interference that followed.

"My God..." I muttered as the ship crossed the planet's atmosphere.

The beings stopped following us, but the damage had already been done. Felicia had utterly lost control of the ship. We were falling at a deadly speed, leaving a trail of smoke and fire behind us. No one yelled. We merely held on to our seats as fiercely as we could, realizing that we were living our final moments.

I saw a green field adorned by many mounts and few trees under the light of a fading sun before I decided to close my eyes and wait for the crash. I made my best to think of a prayer, hoping that God would take care of us and of our friends.

They were horrible moments. All we could hear was the sound of the wind breaking against our chassis and the incessant alarms. But then, we listened to another sound: a great explosion. Following that, we felt a chilling wind that assaulted our bodies with pure fury. The ship had a hole now and it was now simply a matter of time before the slaughtering draft would rip our seats off and suck us out of the vessel.

Yet then, another sound reached our ears. It sounded as if a lock of an enormous metallic door had closed and the vessel shook. And instantly after that, the Gummi ship began to straighten up.

We dared to open our eyes and saw that we had been just about to hit the ground. Fate, however, had turned this into just the most horrific roller-coaster ride you could ever imagine. After a few moments of feeling our entrails press against our bottoms, the ship finally began to travel horizontally and our speed drastically diminished... yet we still floated.

"...What did you do, Felicia?" finally yelled Goofy, for the deafening draft still tormented us.

"I didn't do a thing!" the were-cat replied and to prove her point, she let go of the ship's controllers. We were still stable.

Another sound assaulted our ears. We turned around and saw the immense hole that had been made on the ship. The steel of the vessel suddenly began to emit lightning and bent like rubber. Before our bewildered eyes, the metal expanded and came together, thus eliminating the damage that had been done to us. Our ship came to a complete stop, but we still hovered over the ground.

And right then, we heard the roaring engine of another vessel. We looked through the glass and saw one of the very ships that we had discerned on the space station hovering steadily in front of us. It was one of those light-weighted ships. Inside its cockpit, sat a man wearing an oxygen mask and a helmet with dark shades. He waved at us friendly. It took us nearly a minute to react but in the end, we waved back at him.

Then, our communicator picked up his signal. After five seconds of annoying interference, we finally heard a voice.

"Are we live?" a man with a gentle, calm, and friendly tone asked.

"Yup, we're live," replied another pilot with a very grave, yet welcoming voice.

"Sweet," said the first. "Hey guys: I'm JazzyJet – the sexiest M-gear on the planet."

What could we possibly reply to that after such a catastrophic experience? Not even Adrian was capable of muttering a single word and that is saying something. The only answer that we managed to think of came out our lips in the form of a poorly uttered syllable: "Huh...?"

The pilots laughed aloud upon realizing that we still felt the cold touch of Death, who had just exited the ship with no victims under the edge of her scythe. I detected two more voices; apparently, there were four fighters on the scene.

"Jazzy, I think they're still digesting the fact that they're alive," one of them said while chuckling.

"Yeah, I figured that," the pilot said. "Dudes, look to your left."

We slowly turned to where he instructed and saw beside our ship one of those heavy aircrafts. Its steel was painted with a pale, blue color, and on its side, was a small emblem that resembled the shadow of a wolf with a background of furious flames. Inside the ship's cockpit was the pilot – JazzyJet – who wore the same equipment as his companion and so it was not possible for us to see his face. He waved at us cheeringly.

"Yo, yo," he greeted.

"Oh... hi..." Sora at last answered.

"What... exactly happened?" murmured Ken.

"Well, we were wondering the same thing," JazzyJet answered. "Here we were, minding our own business and then, all of a sudden, Balence saw you falling. We figured we might lend you a hand."

"Yeah, but how did you save us?" asked Felicia, much calmer now.

"Oh, right. I pilot an M-gear, right? So I can use the ship's special magnetism to drag along other vessels. It's called being in a formation. Right now, you're formed on me."

"But the hole in our armor...?"

"That's what an M-gear is all about," answered the third pilot that had spoken. "M-gears can repair other ships. It's sort of complicated; there's a lot of physics involved. I guess I'm not the right person to tell you."

"Oh... I see..." the cat-woman muttered and at long last let out a deep breath. She put her hands on her face and smiled. "Well... sorry for taking so long to say this, fellas, but thank you."

"Yes; forgive our rudeness: thank you for saving our lives," I added.

"Oh, no sweat," JazzyJet replied.

"So, what happened?" asked the fourth pilot. His voice was very similar to Adrian's, but I noted a tone of sincere seriousness in him.

"Well, we—" Sora began to explain, but the communicator was suddenly overcome by interference. "Hello? Hello?"

"Guys... Come in..." Leon's voice said through the annoying noise.

"Leon!" we all yelled. "Are you okay?" Donald quacked.

"We... hear you!" my darling yelled, her sentence cut in half by the interference.

"We are fine, dear!" I exclaimed, getting up from my chair and racing at the ship's controls, speaking into the microphone as clearly as I could. "Are you safe?? Are you unharmed??"

"...We're fine," she replied. I could barely make out her words.

"Where are you?"

"...A... saved us... taking us... to the city... we'll... you there."

"We can scarcely hear you, Ukyo. Please, repeat what you said," I requested much more calmly. I noticed in the serenity her voice that they were now safe and this was very relieving.

"...Meet you there," she managed to reply. The interference then cut the transmission for good.

"Thank God they're safe," Siegfried said with a loud, reassured sigh.

"Indeed," I said, sitting down next to my brother. I slapped his lap playfully and smiled. "Yes, we are good now."

We saw the pilots bob their heads up and down and wave signals at each other as the interference raged on the communicator. But after a few seconds, JazzyJet's voice became present once again.

"You know, Tricky, I only asked you a single favor," he said. Though his tone seemed serious, his companion chuckled as a reply. "I just want to talk to these guys and you keep messing up with the transmission. Dude, what's up with you? I thought you were a nice guy. I'm very disappointed..."

"We're live again, Jazzy," the pilot with the grave voice answered without stopping laughing.

"Oh, sweet. Thank you, Tricky. You rock," JazzyJet chuckled and so did the rest of his companions. "Sorry about that, guys. We had some technical difficulties... You were saying?"

"Don't worry about it," Sora answered. "We just received a transmission from our friends."

"Your friends?"

"Yes: allow me to explain," I interjected. "We were flying through space with our comrades when a group of strange creatures attacked us... They had a single, menacing eye, and long tails, and their size was monstrous."

"Bipins," one of them, Balence, I presumed, guessed. "Yeah, those critters are tough, even for old sea lions like ourselves. You're damn lucky to be alive."

"Yes, thanks to you," I said. "Whatever the case, it seems our friends escaped from the foes. Another ship helped them, I believe, and they are heading to the city. At least that is what we understood, for there was a lot of interference."

"Oh, okay," JazzyJet muttered. "Hmm... Balence, how long has it been since the leader made any transmissions? Have there been any reports of A.N.I. coming to our territory?"

"Nope, none, and it's been three hours since the last transmission, I think," the pilot answered.

"And how long have we stayed here patrolling, Tricky?"

"Seven hours, according to my watch," his comrade said.

"Right. Let's town it, then. Okay, guys, we're taking you to the city. Just sit tight," JazzyJet announced as he captured the ships of his companions with his vessel's magnetism and began to tow us with relative ease. "So... what are your names, guys?"

"Oh, right; sorry," Sora said and we all introduced ourselves. "I'm Sora."

"Name's Goofy. Pleased to meet ya!"

"I'm Donald. Thanks for your help."

"Name's Ken Masters."

"I'm Ryu."

"Akane Tendo. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Felicia here."

"My name's Siegfried."

"I'm 00-Adrian; but you can call me Adrian," the vampire declared and was immediately slapped on the arm by Felicia. She smiled and shook her head, realizing that asking him to remain serious was futile.

"I'm called Wilheim. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance," I said. "We have heard your names, but we have not been properly introduced, I daresay..."

"Yeah, I know," JazzyJet chuckled. "Well, I'm JazzyJet. Nice to meet you, guys."

"Balence here. Good to see you're all alright."

"2Tricky, but everyone calls me Tricky."

"I'm Araya," said the fourth pilot. "Nice to meet you, too."

"Araya's been kind of quiet, today," JazzyJet declared. "What's wrong, Araya? Is something bothering you? Do you need a friend?"

"I'm fine, thanks, Jazzy," Araya chuckled, as did the rest of the pilots.

"Okay, then."

"What were you guys doing here, anyway?" asked Felicia.

"We were on the lookout for enemies," 2Tricky replied.

"What enemies?" Siegfried asked as we looked at each other. The thought of the Heartless obviously appeared on our heads.

"The A.N.I.," he answered. "It's sort of a long story. We'll tell you all about it when we get to the city."

"Is it a long way from here?" I asked.

"No, it's very near. We'll get there in five to ten minutes," Araya answered.

"Excellent. We will be with our friends in no time."

"Um... I don't mean to be pessimistic, but I think you'll have to wait a bit, Wilheim," JazzyJet said.

"What? Why?"

"You guys just came from Fantasy Flow – that's the place where the Bipins lurk. And that's pretty far away form the city."

"But those gates can get them faster, right?" asked Adrian.

"It's not that simple," explained Araya. "There are some very hostile territories out there, so they have to be very careful about venturing into new grounds. Besides, they have to be on the constant lookout for A.N.I. It could easily take them a week to get to the city."

"But I wouldn't worry, guys," JazzyJet added. "Your friends are probably in good hands. Only the best pilots in Bygeniou dare to go there, so he or she will know how to get them to the city safely."

"I see," I sighed. "Well, thank you for letting us know that, JazzyJet."

"Call me Jazzy," he chuckled.

"All right. Thank you, Jazzy."

"Here's the warp to Stone Ruins," warned Balence as we approached another gate. "That's right beside the city."

"Meanwhile, I'll ask the rest of the brigade to come and meet us there," Jazzy said. "It'll be best if all of us are there."

"Why's that?" asked Donald.

"You'll see in a few minutes," Tricky replied.

"Okay... thanks," Ryu said right before our ships were pulled by the gate's powerful force...

_(Change of scene)_

We traversed beautiful plains adorned by an enormous cascade (which, from our window, seemed no bigger than a stream of water come from a tap), tall, green trees, thin, metallic windmills, and a rocky structure which gave Stone Ruins its name. Before long, we reached another gate – the one that would take us to the city. As we approached it, a few ships passed by us and entered...

Upon exiting the warp, we were shocked to see a gigantic, martial metropolis. Unlike with the space station, everything was functional: the runway's lights were lit and let the pilots know where to land their fighters. The dark shadows of the night (for the sun was now hiding behind the gargantuan structure – fortunately for our vampire friend) were no obstacle for these signals which brought the pilots safely home. There were many buildings that surrounded an enormous plaza where many soldiers walked about. They all wore all sorts of jumpsuits; even our new friends, although we did not notice this until later, of course. Most of them headed to the runway: for our ship was unlike anything they had seen before. A great pillar stood in the middle of the city and on its very top, shone a golden symbol that resembled an "S". The metropolis was indeed breathtaking...

Jazzy towed our ship into the city's immense hangar, which was divided into many sections. He dragged us into a specific one which boasted an emblem depicting the shadow of a fierce wolf before an inferno. As we looked at our saviors' ships closer, we realized they all had the same symbol painted on their fuselage, right below their names. It appeared that they all called each other after the names of their vessels...

The Gummi ship, while still in one piece, was nonetheless most damaged and would not shrink. Thankfully, the hangar was sure to become a good home for it while we managed to repair it. We exited the ship and came face to face with the four pilots who exited their vessels and took off their helmets.

Jazzy had a kind face with short, dark hair, friendly light-brown eyes, a scruffy beard, and an affable smile. His appearance went well with his welcoming voice. Balence's hair was short and spiky; he had thick eyebrows and dark eyes with dark circles under them. I reckoned he did not sleep too much, yet his lack of rest did not seem to affect his disposition to help us in whatever way he could. 2Tricky had dark-blonde hair and thick eyebrows. He had a thoughtful glance that contrasted with his playful smirk. Finally, Araya was, amazingly, Adrian's long, lost brother. The only difference between them was that Araya had shorter hair than his vampire counterpart and the fact that he wore glasses. When they saw each other, our friend let out one of his hysterical cries, while Araya rolled his head back and laughed.

"Oh, my God!" Jazzy exclaimed as they all began to laugh. "You two guys are identical!"

"AAHHH!!" the vampire exclaimed. "When they made me, they forgot to break the mold!"

"I get that a lot," Araya replied. "From where I come from, there's at least one out of twenty people that looks like me, or so they say. The funny thing is I've never met one before. Everything should be okay, though: we haven't incurred on any time-space paradox so far."

"...AAHHH!! The Galaxy will be destroyed!!" Adrian wailed, making us all laugh.

"Oh, hello," Jazzy suddenly said, lowering the tone of his voice as he approached Felicia and Akane with a charming smile. "I didn't think the ladies would be so pretty. You can call me Jazzy-the-sexy-Jet."

Our friends giggled as the pilot took their hands and kissed them gallantly. I daresay Akane blushed, while Felicia openly replied: "You're not so bad yourself, mister."

"Jazzy, who are you kidding?" asked another voice. We turned to it and saw a trio of new pilots approaching. The one who had spoken had also short, dark hair and a playful glance. His skin was darker than the one of his companions and he possessed an impish smile. "You're not fooling anyone: you're gay! Everyone knows that!" he exclaimed, gaining a laugh from all his companions, and this time, we ventured to chuckle too.

"Apoc..." Jazzy muttered, rolling his eyes. "You know... You're such a jerk. You just keep attacking me, and—"

"See? You're getting all emotional! That's so gay!" the pilot answered. He let out a few laughs before saying: "Okay. I'm sorry, Jazzy. Please forgive me."

"Okay. I'll grant you forgiveness," he answered with a smile. "Guys, these guys just had a major accident and they barely made it. I want you to make them feel right at home, okay?"

"Sure thing, Jazzy," said the comic pilot as he stepped forth. "Hi, guys. I'm Apocalypse, but people usually call me Apoc. Nice to meet you."

"Hey, fellas," added another one. This fellow wore a green cap; like Araya, he also had glasses and a beard, but his was much shorter than that of the vampire's clone. His voice was grave and jolly and had a contagious laughter. "I'm Longtom. Welcome to Bygeniou."

"Sup, dudes," greeted the third. As you may have assumed, he also had short hair. After all, I just realized, they were all soldiers (although, as you will see later, this proved nothing about their hairdos). He had almond-shaped, dark eyes and an equally welcoming expression on his face. "Name's Atermel. Welcome to Wulfpack."

"Wulfpack?" we grunted.

"That's our brigade's name; Jazzy is the leader," clarified Balence. "What? Didn't the logo tell you anything?"

"Oh, so that's what it is..." murmured Ryu.

"You mind telling me what this is all about, JazzyJet?!" demanded another pilot who had a large group behind him. From the expression on our new companions' faces, he was not friendly folk.

"Let me handle this," Jazzy whispered unhappily as he faced the soldier as he stormed towards us.

The young man had a stern look in his face. His brown hair was much longer than the ones of our comrades. It fell to one side of his face, covering his eyebrow. His skin was pale and his mouth formed a most unpleased grimace.

"Great... Here comes the Mini-leader," grumbled Apocalypse in a low tone.

"What is going on here?" the man demanded. "Who are these people and what are they doing in our city?"

"MasterMenace, quite frankly, it's not your problem," Jazzy replied calmly.

"The hell it is!" the soldier roared. "There are A.N.I. spies all over this place and you just allowed ten complete strangers to enter our proud metropolis just like that! It seems to me you're not using your head, soldier!"

"They nearly crashed and we helped them out," our friend explained. "Chill, okay?"

"They're all A.N.I., from the looks of it," growled the pilot as he walked past Jazzy and faced us with a defiant air. "I should have you all arrested at once."

"Hey, take it easy," Sora answered and frowned. "We're just trying to help here."

"We don't need your help. Or better said, we don't need to have you spying on our operations!"

"Listen, sir," I intervened. "We do not even know who or what the A.N.I. are. Perhaps if you let us explain—"

"Take them away!" bellowed MasterMenace and two officers got ready to take us into custody.

Nevertheless, we were not in the mood for surrendering without a fight. We all put ourselves on guards, unsheathing our weapons and letting our energy flow. The soldiers became alarmed and brandished sophisticated guns, pointing them at our heads.

"Hey, knock it off!" Apoc yelled. "You're such a pain in the rear-end, MasterMenace!"

"These guys came from outer space," 2Tricky interjected. "No A.N.I. ship (or any of our ships for that matter) could make it past the atmosphere. It's way too thick to go through it. I'm sure they told you that when you were in elementary school, huh, soldier?"

"But—!" the man began, but Longtom hastily interrupted.

"You're not leader, MasterMenace, S-T-F-U! Let us handle the work, while you go play commodore somewhere else. Get out of here; you're starting to piss me off."

"...I'll be watching you," he limited himself to say as he turned around and furiously walked away. The rest of his team looked at us with mistrust and followed their leader silently.

"Bye-bye," said Adrian, waving his hand with his foolish smile, again, playing insane. I believe (or I would like to believe) that he understood the predicament we were in...

Actually, I daresay all of the soldiers were staring at us with much doubt. Whoever the A.N.I. were, there was an immense hate towards them. Anything that could bring their presence there was a most unwelcome intruder and had to be disposed of immediately.

"Sorry about all that," Jazzy apologized. "He's such an idiot..."

"Jazzy, would you mind telling us what is going in this place?" I asked. "We have come here looking for enemies we have been hunting throughout many worlds: they are called the Heartless. We reckoned we might find some here, but instead, you speak about these A.N.I... Who are they?"

"It's a long story," said Atermel. "We should better head for the brigade's headquarters. The tension around here right now is so high you could cut it with a pocket-knife."

_(Change of scene)_

The Wulfpack pilots took us to their center of operations which was inside the greatest building within the city. We passed through many corridors before we reached it. We saw many doors which had several emblems, each representing the logo of a Bygeniou city brigade.

At last, we made it to a large door with the familiar wolf before the blazing flames. We entered the headquarters and were promptly welcomed by more of the brigade's members, who awaited us with much anticipation.

Most of them were gathered in the operations room, where they planned their strategies and missions. They told us this was the place where they dwelled in most of the time. When they were not preparing themselves for battle or eating (they had a large kitchen as well), they were either resting up in the dormitories – there were four in total, one specifically designed for the brigade's femme fatales – or simply hanging out in the common room, which had a television and a library. From time to time, they said, they would go out to the city bar and have some drinks: they mostly did this when they completed a highly dangerous mission successfully, or when they mourned the loss of a dear comrade.

Upon entering and taking a seat in the operation's room, the warriors kindly introduced themselves.

Yukunism, like Atermel, had almond-shaped eyes and a friendly smile; xSuicidaLx also had similar features, but seemed older and had a very athletic body, much like that of Siegfried's; Gallager Kunitz (the only one that had used a last name so far) was almost as tall as I was and had a strong build, similar to that of Suicidal (I will spell his name like this from now on for simplicity's sake), he had brown scruffy hair and greenish yellow eyes, and UpDaBut (a very colorful name, I might add), also had green eyes and brown hair, but he was a bit shorter than Gallager and a tad thinner, as well.

According to our new companions, there were still many more pilots within the brigade, yet they were either fulfilling missions or fighting against the A.N.I. It was there that we repeated our question and the fellows did their best to answer it accurately.

"Who are the A.N.I.?" asked Ryu.

"A.N.I. stands for Anti-Nationalism Influence," Gallager explained, seating before us. "They're our enemies."

"You're at war against them?" Ken queried.

"Yeah," Yukunism intervened. "It's been five difficult years. We've lost a lot of friends because of them."

"Wow..." Felicia muttered. "And... how did this all start?"

"Well, I guess it all started about a decade ago," Gallager said, taking a deep breath and leaning back on his seat. He half-closed his eyes, forcing himself to remember the images that he was about to describe to us. "We arrived to Phillon about a hundred years ago, perhaps more. The initial goal was to colonize it and obtain as much resources as possible. Even then there were two separate groups: the ones that did their best to fulfill that mission and those who opposed, arguing that gathering resources from the planet was the same as harming it. Anyway, the wealthiest families – the ones that had gotten the most out of those resources – founded munitions' companies for the planet's defense."

"You mean the war had already started?" Akane asked.

"No," interjected Suicidal. "Before us, there were other beings here, on this planet. They are extremely hostile and territorial. There weren't any negotiations; they began attacking us first. That's why those people had to raise funds for a defense program. That's how the ships were created in the first place."

"I see..."

"So, what happened then?" Siegfried murmured.

"The wealthy families built their own city: Bark City," Gallager went on. "I grew up in that place. I was a son of those families. So I suppose you can say I had an easy-going life... Until the real conflicts began, at least," he added, with a sigh.

"What did the A.N.I. do?" asked Donald.

"The bastards destroyed Bark," UpDaBut hastily answered. "They nearly killed everyone in one attack. Those damn, betraying sons of bitches—"

"Easy, UpDa," said Longtom, patting his partner on his shoulder. "Take it easy, dude."

"It's just that I freaking hate them so much..."

"We know: we can tell."

"So that is how the war begun?" I inquired. "The A.N.I. bombed your city?"

"Yes," Gallager replied. "They were mad at the defense program, because they didn't want to throw away their lives. At least that's what my parents told me... before the bombing, that is. They died on that day. Those of us left founded Bygeniou City and declared war against Arlington."

"Arlington?" Goofy muttered.

"The A.N.I.'s city," JazzyJet clarified. "Bygeniou equals B.C.U., Arlington equals A.N.I."

"So you guys are the B.C.U.," Felicia guessed. "What does B.C.U. stand for?"

"Bygeniou City United," they all answered.

"The A.N.I. took two vital positions close to our territory: Starlite Valley and Redline. Fortunately, we managed to kick them out. That's when they founded Arlington City... and we've been fighting each other ever since."

"I see," I sighed. "I am sorry to hear that, Gallager."

"It's okay," said the pilot. "I've been through a lot of stuff... but I've been handling things fine, I guess."

"Right now, though, we've got bigger problems," 2Tricky said. "For instance, that idiot MasterMenace practically labeled you guys as A.N.I. spies."

"Yeah, what's up with that bonehead?" Siegfried asked with a frown.

"Precisely that: he's a bonehead," Apocalypse answered.

"Yeah, but, how come?"

"He's just bitter at life because he isn't the leader. The nation's leader, that is."

"And who is that?"

"Milky," they said.

"Milky?" muttered Sora, doing his best not to smile. "But I bet he would put him in his place, huh?"

"Not really..." 2Tricky replied. "He's been going through personal, rough times and he barely issues any commands at all. He was on the battlefield today, but he goes to fight every once in a blue moon."

"Oh, I see... Then, why doesn't he hand down the leadership to someone else, or something?"

"His brigade doesn't want him to quit, so it's a bit difficult."

"It's fun having power, huh..." the boy sighed.

"I guess so."

"The thing is, we're going to have to show everyone that you guys aren't spies," JazzyJet said. "The best way to do that, I think, is to have you help us with some missions."

"Huh?" we muttered. "How?"

"Flying some ships, of course. But don't worry: we'll teach you everything you need to know and we'll go with you to help you in whatever way we can. You don't have to worry about a thing that way."

"But I mean, come on!" Sora exclaimed. "How influential can that jerk be?"

"Actually a lot" Balence said with a sigh. "The thing is, he's a jerk all right, but he's a very good pilot. That's why a lot of people listen to him. He labeled you as spies and I'm betting that at least fifty percent of the nation thinks you actually are."

"...Crud," Ken grumbled.

"Don't worry. Handling a gear isn't very hard," Suicidal assured. "Besides, you already know how to fly. I bet it won't be very difficult to learn how to pilot a new plane. Even Jazzy can do it."

"Ha-ha, Suicidal," Jazzy said with a fake grumble, making the rest of the Wulfpacks smile.

"It's very different," Felicia answered. "You guys handle fighting planes: we drive a party van. We do have weapons on it, but they're really puny. We're just able to take down very small ships, nothing that's much bigger... I mean, we did get our butts kicked by those things... what were they called?"

"Bipins," Balence said.

"Actually, only a handful of our friends can fly," Akane added. "I don't think I'd be able to handle one of those things."

"Well, you could fly with me, if that makes you feel better," Jazzy offered with a sensual tone, making the rest of his friends chuckle and Akane blush. "No, but seriously, you'll be all right. You'll learn within a day, at the most. I promise."

"I suppose it is only fair that we help you rid that image of us, for you are risking your reputation and your necks by aiding us," I said. "I only pray that you let us rest for a bit. The journey to this planet was long and we just went through that terrible episode."

"We don't care much about a reputation: we don't have one," Araya intervened and we all chuckled at his good-timed joke.

"I don't think that'll be a problem," Gallager said with a smile. "You guys just rest up for tonight. We'll take you hunting tomorrow."

"As long as it's not too early..." Adrian murmured, toying with his fingers.

"Jazzy, can I ask a favor of you?" I asked, getting up from my seat.

"Sure, what's up?" he replied.

"Can you make a broadcast to all the brigades in the nation and thank whoever it is that helped our friends and if they could bring them home safely?"

"Sure thing. It'll take a while to reach every gear in the continent, but I can do that."

"Thank you very much."

With that said, the Wulfpack members were kind enough to provide us some beds. We fell asleep almost instantly, our hearts at ease, knowing that our friends were surely in good hands...

_Narrator: Ukyo_

"No, guys! Guys!!" I yelled through the communicator as I saw our friends' ship falling to the planet with lethal speed. It caught flames in a matter of seconds... "Don't die!! Wilheim!! Baby!!"

"Son of a fucking bitch!!" Baiken cried. "What the fuck is it with those assholes?!"

I turned to what was in front of us and saw another group of those terrible creatures that had blocked the path to the gate. We were completely cornered...

Leon did his best to fly away from the monsters, but it was useless. They were simply too fast for us. Our friend was skilled enough to dodge all of their shots, though. We held on to the seats fiercely while our hearts nearly pounded out of our chests. I really didn't feel like dying in space.

"Left!" Jam cried. "Left, Leon!"

"I know, I'm seeing them!!" Leon shouted.

"Get away from them!" Sakura added.

"I'm trying, damn it!!" the pilot roared. "Aren't you watching?!"

"Now's not the time to fight!" I exclaimed. "Let him focus!"

"I can't freaking shake them off!!"

The creatures began to gather energy to them. Even though we could not see them, we discerned a red glitter on the wings of our Gummi ship. It was only a matter of seconds before they let loose their power and blasted us into oblivion...

Yet at that moment, an unexpected yellow flash illuminated our wings. We felt a slight jolt and let out a surprised gasp. We knew the monsters hadn't fired that. If it had been them, we would've no doubt heard an alarm or something of the sort. The red glitter disappeared from our vessel and Leon decided to turn the ship around in order to see what had happened.

Another ship had appeared. It flew with amazing rapidity through the fiends, drawing their attention to it. It was the same model as the aircrafts we ha seen in the space station a while ago. It eluded the creatures' shots and unleashed a rain of missiles upon one of them, tearing it apart. The lifeless fragments of the monster floated in opposite directions in the dead silence of space. The ship approached us and then the voice of its pilot sounded on our radio.

"Follow me!" it said. It had been a feminine, charming voice...

Leon remained still for a while, as if in a trance, unable to believe our luck. Yet he soon regained his cool and took a hold of the ship's controls and began to follow our savior.

"Twist! Siachen! Cover our rear!" the woman ordered.

"Understood!" replied another voice through our communicator. This one belonged to a young man.

"Aye, Maici! Just worry about getting these mates out of here!" added another pilot. He had a British, attractive tone.

Two more aircrafts appeared from out of nowhere and began to fire upon the creatures. Missiles, bullets, and lasers hit their mark with deadly precision and they managed to destroy two more monsters. Meanwhile, Leon followed the other vessel, forcing the Gummi ship's engines to their limit and even so, we had trouble keeping up with the speedy aircraft.

Seconds away before we reached the gate, the woman spoke again.

"Okay, guys, we're clear! Take the Island Dream warp!"

"On our way," they both said and turned their ships around. Before we were absorbed by the warp, I managed to see how they began to follow us. Their speed was such that they caught up to us before we disappeared into unknown scenery.

The dark confines of space vanished and revealed a new place: a beautiful, green island with many mountains and cliffs. The waters that surrounded it were clear and blue and seemed most welcoming. There were many creatures about, all of them much smaller than the monsters we had faced moments ago and were quite peaceful. Not one of them tried to attack us. We couldn't help but to let out a sigh of relief as the pilots escorted us to a station in the very center of the island.

"We are most fortunate," Octavius mumbled. "Fate has smiled upon us. I had almost given up hope on good luck."

"That was a close call..." Ranma added.

"Are you all alright?" asked the woman.

"Yeah, thanks to you," I replied. "Thanks a lot, um..."

"Name's Maici. Nice to meet you," she said kindly. "These are my fellow pilots, Siachen and Twist."

"Howdy, people. This is Twist," said the young man.

"Cheers, mates. If you follow a process of elimination, I suppose you know who I am," chuckled the fellow with British accent.

"Hi," I murmured. "My name's Ukyo..."

"I'm Sakura!" exclaimed my friend, moving to the front of the ship and shouting at the communicator. "Thanks a lot for saving our butts!"

"Yeah; thank you," Ryoga said. "I'm Ryoga."

"Ranma here."

"My name is Georgius Octavius Chronicus Acvedus. But Octavius will suffice."

"I'm Jam Kuradoberi. Nice to meet ya!"

"I'm Leon. Thanks for your help."

"Baiken."

"Well, it's good to meet you all. I didn't think so many of you would be there," Maici giggled. "It's good to know you're all doing fine. We'll just reload some ammunition here and get some gas. We'll then take you to Arlington City. You'll be safe there."

"Thanks a lot, Maici," I sighed.

"Crap! Our friends!" Leon exclaimed. "Give me a second, guys; I'm going to change the channel and see if we can find the fellows that were with us."

As he said that, my heart, which had been beating peacefully since we had arrived at this small paradise, began to pound with fright again.

"What friends?" asked Twist.

"There was another ship with us," Leon answered. "They were also attacked by the monsters and they entered the planet, but we saw their fuselage catch flames."

"Oh, God... I hope they're okay," Maici muttered.

"Give me a moment," our pilot mumbled and started to switch our communicator's frequency. "Guys! Guys! Come in! Do you read me?!" he cried while desperately changing channels again and again. I instinctively held onto Baiken's shoulder and squeezed. She glanced at me and held her breath...

"Leon...!" Donald's voice suddenly said. "Are... okay?"

"We can't hear you clearly!" I answered and after a few seconds, I whispered mostly to myself: "Please be all right..."

"We... fine, dear!" my baby's voice exclaimed. We all let out a loud sigh and I leaned my head on Baiken's shoulder in relief. She patted my back and then gently pushed me away. Well, at least she was making an effort... "Are you... you... unharmed??"

"We're all right, baby! We're fine," I contested, cursing the freaking interference that caught all of Wilheim's sentences in half.

"Where... you?"

"On an island; another ship saved us. Well, three of them, that is; they're taking us to the city – to Arlington City. We'll meet you there."

"...Ukyo... repeat what... said..."

"We'll meet you there," I said as clearly as I could. The interference became too strong and the transmission came to an abrupt end. "Wilheim? Baby? Can you hear me?"

"No use," Leon sighed. "Well, at least they're fine."

"Yeah, thank God..." I said, sitting down. Jam put her hand on my shoulder and rubbed it caringly. I smiled at her with a comforted glance.

"Okay, back to our new companions..." Leon mumbled as he switched the frequency again. "Do you read us, guys? Maici? Twist? Siachen?"

"We can hear you, mates," replied the latter. "Is everything all right? Did you contact your friends?"

"Yes, they're safe," I answered. "We don't know how, though; there was a lot of interference."

"They must be really far then," said Twist. "But don't worry: if they're safe, they're sure to make it to the city... as long as they're not attacked by B.C.U. forces."

"B.C.U.?" we asked with a puzzled tone.

"Yeah... they're the bad guys..."

"The bad guys?" Ryoga murmured. He put his hand on the communicator and whispered: "Maybe they're in league with the Heartless."

"It is a possibility," Octavius agreed. "We will get more answers in the city. Let us stop wasting time and let them take us there."

"Perhaps we should discuss this back in town," Maici's voice interrupted. "Let's just get to the city, before one of those guys get here."

"Then lead the way," Baiken said.

_(Change of scene)_

It took us a while to reach Arlington City. As we moved from one warp to another, Maici and Twist constantly scouted the areas to make sure there were no enemies hiding about. When they were sure there was no threat, they told us to move on as quickly as possible. And as we crossed through the various terrains, we began to wonder if these B.C.U. were the only threat...

Whatever the case, we had to save our questions, since our three new friends were very busy doing their best to get us safely into their city. We crossed a vast desert, an arid canyon, and a warm beach, among other lands. At long last, we reached the metropolis. It had many diverse structures, from workshops to massive buildings, surrounding an enormous plaza, which had a large pillar in the center. At its top was a logo that seemed like a large "X" on top of the silhouette of a ship of some sort. I really don't know how else to describe it: the thing was simply too weird. Either way, under it was the acronym A.N.I... The night was just about to end; we could see the sun's glitter rising behind the city as we made our way into the runway. Although there was no magical field around to shrink the Gummi ship, we had no trouble in leaving it alongside the ships of Maici, Twist, and Siachen.

I approached their ships and saw a small logo in each of them beside their names: a blue flame which engulfed the letters "TA". I waited for the guys to leave their cockpits to ask them what they meant... More than that, I wanted to know how they actually looked like.

The fellows took off their helmets and descended from their ships. Siachen had short, blonde hair and a charming, friendly smile. He was tall and thin and had clear blue eyes. Twist was a little bit shorter than his mate; he had red hair and an astute glance. Maici was a tad taller than me (which is saying something – I'm tall for a girl). Her smile was kind and welcoming – like her voice. Her hair was dark and fell on her shoulders and she had a single tuft that crossed her face. She had a really lovely body, sensual and sober. She approached me, smiled and shook my hand.

"Well, it's nice to meet you," I said. "Once again, thanks for everything."

"You're welcome, Ukyo," she replied.

"The city looks empty for the moment," Twist said as he looked around. "I suppose there's a raid or something of the sort."

"Let's check the message board," Siachen suggested. "Whatever the case, I don't think I'll join. I haven't had any sleep for two straight days."

"You're telling me. I need my nap already."

"We should go to the headquarters then and get some rest," Maici proposed. "There's still a lot of stuff that we need to discuss with the guys."

"It seems that the metropolis is not entirely deserted," Octavius mumbled as he tilted his head at a trio that walked to the hangar which we had just left.

There was a girl with them. She seemed to be my age, had blonde hair tied into two braids. Her eyes were blue and had an impish mouth. Two men walked by her side: one of them was tall and was very muscular (although not as much as our were-bear). He had dark glasses and a serious expression. The other – the one that seemed to be leading the way – was a stern-looking man with a beard, long hair tied into a ponytail and what appeared to be a bionic eye and arm. A bit disturbing, if you ask me, but I knew the worst thing that I could do was to look disgusted or freaked out. I decided to merely smile and wave. But the trio looked at us with an unwelcoming glance and turned to our new friends.

"Who are these guys?" asked the man with the bionic implants.

"We found them at Fantasy Flow," Maici explained. "They were being chased by a group of Bipins. We helped them out of that mess and brought them here. They have some friends that—"

"You still haven't answered my question," the man harshly interrupted.

"Hey, take it easy, DE," Twist intervened. "They're friends. That's all you need to know."

"Are you really sure of that?" asked the muscular guy, raising an eyebrow.

"They're not B.C.U., if that's what you mean," Siachen answered. "They don't mean any harm. You can relax, mate."

"...I'll keep my eye on you," grumbled the leader of the trio and with that said, they walked again, but not without first giving us another glare.

We remained still and silent until they got on their ships and then Ryoga asked in a low voice: "Who were those jerks?"

"Those were Goons," Twist replied, shaking his head.

"Yeah, that's pretty obvious," Jam said. "But who are they?"

"That's what they call themselves," Maici explained. "The Goons."

"It suits them well," Leon murmured.

"So, is everyone around here so friendly?" asked Baiken.

"Well, we helped you out, didn't we?" Twist said with a smile.

"Excluding you, of course, wise guy."

"Um... well, we're not usually fond of strangers," he said after an instant. Thus Twist and the others learned that it was better not to joke around Baiken... "We're very wary about B.C.U. spies."

"You mean paranoid." Yep; a born diplomat.

"Baiken, give them a rest, please," I said as kindly as I could. "Anyway... so those guys were... Goons, you say?"

"Yes," Maici answered with a nod. "And you just met the leader of the brigade: DoubleEagle – DE for short."

"And the other two?"

"Those were Riitta and SirStabsaLot."

"Sir-what-the-fuck??" Baiken muttered. This time I was unable to keep myself from letting out a single giggle. I immediately shut my mouth, but when they chuckled too, I felt much more relieved.

"Stabs-a-lot," replied Siachen. "We understand."

"And what does TA stand for?" asked Ranma, pointing at the emblem they wore on their jumpsuits.

"Tactical Aggression," they contested. "That's our brig's name."

"What about A.N.I.?" Sakura questioned.

"A.N.I. means Anti-Nationalism Influence," Maici said and she and the others started to move towards one of the buildings. "Right now, I think that it's best if we go to our HQ. Though (answering your question, Baiken) not everyone is hostile towards strangers, there are lots of paranoids around here."

"Hmm..." Baiken mumbled. "You know, if you're in a war, you should be a little paranoid yourself. We could be B.C.U. spies for all you know."

"No B.C.U. or A.N.I. in their right mind would journey to Fantasy Flow in a ship similar to yours," she explained with a giggle.

"Good point," our bitter friend replied and spoke no more for a while.

_(Change of scene)_

Maici, Twist, and Siachen took us to Tactical Aggression's headquarters. The stance had only a few dormitories, a planning room, and lots of computer terminals. I didn't see any kitchen or any... recreational area. That alone told me they were completely dedicated to the battle. I wasn't sure I liked the idea of having landed on a world which was struck by a terrible war. Whatever the case, these people had taken us in and we had to support them in whatever way we could – especially if they were going to help us find our friends. That was more than enough to convince me that we were hanging out with the good guys.

There were three more TA's members within the headquarters. One of them had fallen asleep in front of a terminal and woke up as soon as we arrived. He was tall and muscular, had short, brown hair and tired, light-brown eyes. With a yawn, he introduced himself as Honrar. We were surprised that he had welcomed us so unquestioningly.

"If Maici lets you inside our HQ, it's for a good reason," he replied. "We all trust her enough."

The second man was a bit shorter than Sakura, had a thin body and dark skin. His scruffy, short hair was black, as were his eyes. He had been reading some papers when we arrived. Upon seeing us, he immediately put them down and greeted us with the same enthusiasm Honrar had demonstrated.

"Hi, guys," he said. "I'm BlackMercy. Make yourselves at home. Right now we don't have any food, but we'll order something soon. And before you ask, I share Honrar's opinion: if Twist, Siachen, and Maici trust you, we do, too."

And lastly, the third pilot arrived moments later after us. His hair was cut in a martial fashion and he was as tall as Ranma or Ryoga. What was most peculiar about him was that he wore a bandanna over his eyes: he was blind. Nevertheless, he had trained his senses and had modified his ship so that he could still battle without complications, according to his companions. At first, he appeared a little puzzled – mistrusting, one might even say –, but in the end, he nod welcomingly and extended his hand.

"Welcome to TA's headquarters. My name is Daniel Han, also known as Shadaoh or Lullaby," he said.

"...Three names?" Baiken muttered, arching her eyebrow.

"We usually call each other by the names our ships have," Honrar explained. "Dan owns two. A bomber and a fighter – Shadaoh and Lullaby."

"Well, if you say so..."

"Dan will suffice, for now," the man said.

"Well, now that we are here, perhaps you will be able to answer some of our questions," Octavius said. "For instance, why at you at war with these B.C.U. fellows?"

"We'll tell you, but I'd appreciate it if you also told us why you came here," Honrar replied, taking a seat.

"That sounds fair enough," the were-bear agreed. "We are all ears."

The fellows told us about how that planet, Phillon, had been colonized a century ago. There had always been trouble between two factions: the ones utterly bent over sucking every last resource the world had to offer and those against it. It had not been until about ten years ago that things had really gotten nasty.

Five years of tense conflicts preceded a massacre that had befallen the wealthy people of Bark City – a metropolis founded by those that had monopolized the world's riches. The survivors blamed the A.N.I. for the bombing and declared war upon them.

"But... did you guys drop the bomb in the first place?" Jam asked, turning the tone of her voice as delicate as she could.

"Of course not!" BlackMercy replied, sounding a little offended. "There's no way we would do something like that. But the B.C.U. didn't ask any questions: they just declared war against Arlington and began to attack us. So we had to defend ourselves. We took two of their bases, yet lost them after a short time."

"I see..."

"Right now, what worries me the most are your friends," Dan declared. "God knows what the B.C.U. will do to them if they catch them..." he then turned to Maici and added: "Maici, I believe we should train them to fly our ships so they can accompany us to search for their comrades."

"Dan, I don't know if there will be enough time for that," Siachen murmured. "Besides, I believe it would be rude to ask them to put themselves in danger."

"It would be rude of us to ask you to put yourselves in danger for our friends," Leon clarified. "For my part, I'll do my best to become a good pilot. I'll go with you and we'll even help you fight against the B.C.U. They could very well be allied with our enemies, for all we know."

"Your enemies?" they inquired.

"We are fighting against Dark creatures that invade the worlds and consume them like a plague," Octavius mentioned. "They are called the Heartless. That is why we are here."

"What makes you think there are Heartless in this world?" Honrar questioned.

"Like Octavius said, they're a plague," Ranma answered. "Perhaps you haven't seen them, but chances are you will soon. And getting rid of them for good isn't easy: you need a special weapon to do that." He then lowered his head and sighed. "And only one of our friends – of the ones that are lost – has a weapon of that sort."

"Ah, I see..."

"Well, we can help you," Maici assured. "We'll give you some ships and teach you how to fly them." She then turned to Baiken and made what to me would've been an irresistible offer: "We have state-of-the-art technology here. We could get you bionic implants – an eye and an arm. You'll get used to them in no time, and—"

"'In no time'," Baiken interrupted with a chuckle. "Sister, I've been like this most of my life. Go back to my childhood and do the same proposal and I'll gladly accept. Right now, though, thanks, but no thanks."

"But... how will you fly? You need both hands..."

"Who says I'm going to fly shit? Listen, I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll be much more useful on the backseat or something of the sort, if you take my meaning."

"...Okay," Maici said and forced a kind smile. She got to her feet and announced: "I'll try to contact the rest of our comrades and tell them to come here. I'll also issue a broadcast, asking any aircrafts to be alert and on the lookout for your friends. They flew a ship similar to yours, right?"

"Yeah, they did," I answered. "Thanks, Maici."

"You're welcome."

"But... what ships are there? Because, you see, we saw a space station in the moon and we saw a lot of different fighters there..."

"Essentially there are four types of fighters," Twist declared. "Come with us to the hangar while Maici calls our fellows home; you'll get a better view of the ships there."

_(Change of scene)_

The guys were kind enough to provide us with TA-labeled jump suits. I suppose you could say that sort of made us part of the brigade. I opted to use a red suit. They were very cool, but they were also somewhat tight and didn't leave much to anyone's imagination, which was a bit uncomfortable. Whatever the case, anyone who wanted to fly an aircraft would be better off wearing one of those things. Even Baiken had a jumpsuit, although she had also borrowed a jacket which effectively hid her missing arm under its long sleeve.

We met two more members of the brigade that kindly helped us to pick which ship to fly by explaining each of the pros and cons of the aircrafts. The first was called Zephyr; he had short, red hair and dark eyes. He seemed young, yet he was much wiser and more mature than he looked. Ziggy was a tough-looking, bald pilot. He was very tall and muscular. He had a stern face and serious, brown-colored eyes. Yet surprisingly, he was very charming. It turned out that he was second in command of Tactical Aggression.

Zephyr took Jam, Leon, and I to see the set of lighter ships, while Ziggy helped the rest of our friends to the heavy aircrafts.

"Okay, fellas: these are our good-old interceptor and bomber," Zephyr enthusiastically explained as she showed us the ships. "Firstly, the Idle Sniper, best known as the I-gear. You've got to love this baby... It's the fastest ship we've got. It might look small and weak, but with one of these beauties, you'll outrun the enemies' missiles as if they were nothing. Sweet, huh? Top speed: 5,610 kilometers per hour; it can move back at 1,200 kilometers at 1.7 seconds, and will brutally submit you to 9.75 G's. Not for the faint of heart... Also, it shoots volleys of missiles like freaking mad. It's the perfect ship for dog-fighting."

"Sounds great," Jam said as she eyed the I-gears. "I don't think I need to hear anything else: you might as well as put me on the simulator now, Zephyr."

"You've got it, my friend," he chuckled. "What about you two?"

"You sold the idea to me as well," Leon announced. "I like speed in a ship."

"Excellent." He then turned to me and smiled. "So, you're an I-gear fan, too?"

"You pilot one of those things, right?" I asked.

"Is it too obvious?" he responded with a laugh.

"Sort of... Tell me about the bomber."

"Ah, the Brandy Burg," he mused. He went next to one and beckoned me to go by his side. "The bomber... this was actually the first ship that was developed. But that doesn't mean it's the weakest... on the contrary. The B-gear is a little difficult to handle, because you have to be very close to your target to inflict massive damage."

"So you mainly use it against land targets, huh?"

"Oh, no! You see, the really good B-gear pilots can bomb any ship in mid-air. The most fearsome pilots are capable of downing even the fastest I-gear. It's not as fast as the Idle Sniper: only 4,620 kilometers per hour, 1,200 kilometers at 2.43 seconds on back-mach... Yet the B-gear has a better armor and shield than the I-gear, but its evasion isn't as insane. The only thing that's really, REALLY brutal is the gravitational force which you're subjected to: 13.37 G's."

"Holy crap..." I muttered in shock.

"Yeah... But if you know how to handle them, it's worth it. You can take down enemy ships like nobody's business. However, you can also do that with the I-gear... So, which will it be, UK?"

"Um..." I stuttered. I really wasn't expecting him to call me that. "Well... which aircraft does Maici use?"

"She's an expert bomber," Zephyr said. "And she's a great teacher, too. So is Dan. If you want to use a B-gear, I can't think any better tutors than them."

"So, you're not a good teacher?" I asked with a giggle.

"I never said that," he replied with a smile. "Well... I would definitively suck as a B-gear instructor. But I think I'm not so bad when it comes to the interceptor..."

"I'm sure you're a great teacher," I commented. "Either way, I think I like the bomber – the B-gear – better, despite the gravitational punishment."

"I'm certain you'll have a lot of fun. Come on, then, let's get you on a simulator. I'll talk to Maici and make sure she gets you one of the best B-gears about. What's more, I'll even ensure that the gear you get will be one of VR4's works."

"VR4?"

"Yeah; he's our brigade's 'blacksmith'. Want weapons or war funding, he's your man. He spends a lot of time in his workshop, though, so we don't normally have him around. But when he does fly, he's a very good pilot, too. Oh, he also flies a B-gear, by the way."

"Seems like I'll have a lot of tutors."

"TA is swamped with B-gears, actually. But one more won't hurt."

"That's good to know."

"Okay, I'll meet you back at the simulator. You won't be in there for long, though; the learning curve for flying a gear is almost non-existent. Chances are that, by this time tomorrow, we'll be accompanying you to your first mission."

"And... our friends?" I asked, unable to stop thinking about Wilheim.

"Don't worry about them," Zephyr said in a soothing tone. "They'll be fine. But you have to learn how to fly very well if we're to enter into B.C.U. territory to look for them."

"Yeah... I understand."

"Don't worry about it, UK. Meet me at the simulator," he added and then left. I remained still and quiet for a few moments before making a weird face and muttering to myself:

"UK? What the hell...?" I liked Zephyr from the start, but that abbreviation was just... Ugh. Anyway, I didn't have the heart to tell him; he had been very kind, after all. I sighed and started to make my way to the simulator's location. But before I could take more than two steps forward, a young man approached me and stood before me. He had short, silvery hair and a cocky expression on his face. His eyes were dark and, to be very honest, didn't seem to hold good intentions. Nevertheless, I chose to be tactful about this new pilot and politely greeted him.

"Hey..."

"You're one of them, right?" he asked. "You're one of those strangers that the TA's rescued, aren't you?"

"Yeah..." I murmured. "My name's Ukyo. And you are...?"

"People call me WhiteHawkOne," he replied. "Have you ever flown a gear in your life?"

"No, but Zephyr told me it's not that hard..."

"Nah, it isn't. I bet even you could do it." That wasn't very polite, I have to say... "I'm only kidding. Really!"

"Oh... okay..."

"After you've learned how to fly, I suppose you're going to come with us to kill some B.C.U., right?"

"Well..." I really wished he had put it more delicately.

"Yeah, I thought so. You've never killed anyone before, have you?" I was about to reply to that, but he went on before I could speak. "It's a bit hard at first, but then, you realize it's just a job. Besides, killing B.C.U. is more of a pleasure. Serves them right for being such douchebags."

"...Huh..."

"Anyway, ask the TA's for Town Portals. You'll need as many as you can get and since you're a newbie at this 'flying' thing..." He actually raised his arms and did the quoting gesture as he said the word 'flying'. That really pissed me off. "Chances are you'll be crashing a lot. So you better get on the simulator."

"Yeah, that's where I was going, until you stopped by..." I said as sweetly as I could, yet my expression revealed my annoyance.

"I won't hold you anymore, then," he said. "Remember: Town Portals. Get them or die. Either way, nice to meet you. If you get bored of TA, talk to me: I'm the leader of Kill-on-sight." And with that, he walked away.

I merely rolled my eyes and got out of there as fast as I could.

_(Change of scene)_

We spent an entire day on the flight simulator. While Jam and Leon had fun with the I-gears, Octavius had opted to pilot one of those heavy tanks. Baiken decided she would fly in the back seat. I really didn't see anything good coming out of that... Both of them were dry, bitter, and had the tact of an elephant. They were too alike; and that meant lots of certain confrontations... Or just very quiet trips, at the best. Whatever the case, the tanks only held two people; Ryoga, Ranma, and Sakura all decided to take turns at piloting a single support aircraft. This was the largest ship and could hold three people in its cockpit.

Jam and Leon were tutored by Twist, Zephyr, and a fellow friend to the brigade called ShabelleTiger. He was a blonde, short-haired young man with scruffy beard. He was a little thin, to my taste; nevertheless, he was good-looking. Moreover, he was one of the sweetest guys I had encountered. Jam claimed he was an excellent mentor and an amazing person. Like Zephyr, I liked him from the beginning.

Ryoga, Ranma, and Sakura had the fortune of having Ziggy as their teacher, along with Cayenne; another of TA's fine pilots. He and Ziggy could've been twins, in terms of appearance, only that Cayenne had lighter skin and... hair. Our friends were ready to fly for real by midday. That alone talked amazingly about Ziggy's and Cayenne's skills.

Octavius was advised by yet another member of our new brigade, Djneff. At long last, we found a man whose body was just as immense as that of our were-bear. Yet, unlike Octavius, Djneff had a really playful smile. Actually, I think he reminded more of Olaf, the Gangrel vampire, than of our bitter companion, though his voice was far from being as grave as that of our undead comrade. Also, another non-TA member tutored him, a really nice guy who called himself Mosfet. I think all the pilots who flew tanks were of the heavy type. Mosfet was also a big fellow, with strong arms and legs. He had dark skin, short, black hair, and yellowish eyes. The logo on his jumpsuit seemed to be an 'L' and an 'H' put very closely to each other. I never knew what it meant...

As for me, both Maici and Dan (Shadaoh when within his bomber) taught me how to fly. Now, I don't consider myself an ace of air-fighting, but I think I'm a decent combatant, and it's all because of them. When you have good teachers, everything becomes a lot easier.

Now, flying a simulator is one thing. Going on a mission is a whole other story.

At the following day, we were indeed ready. The brigade provided us with magnificent ships. Every one of their armors had been thoroughly improved by VR4. We still had to meet the brilliant mechanic, but we were sure thankful he modified the aircrafts to what they were now. My B-gear felt extremely light and seemed like it could go through a mountain unharmed (naturally I didn't try that).

Maici searched the Arlington database to find us a suitable, easy mission. She signed us up for one that required us to find specific materials. Said materials were particularly found within the skins and organs of creatures that swarmed the nearby beach, Reynard. They were hostile organisms that would've destroyed the city in the blink of an eye, should the A.N.I. had given them the opportunity. However, the incredible metropolis's defenses made sure they remained quite far. Any intruder that dared come near Arlington was quickly and effectively reduced to ashes.

We made our way into the hangar where the ships awaited. I could see that my friends were very excited about flying these vessels, with the exception of – who else – Octavius and Baiken. What was more, not only was Baiken not thrilled: she was pissed. You could see it in her eyes and the fact that she wouldn't stop grumbling. Before she boarded the tank, I decided to ask her what was wrong. If I would've been another person, that probably would've been suicide... but as cold and bitter as Baiken was, I knew she held me in good esteem.

"Are you okay, Baiken?" I asked her in a low voice.

"I'm fine," she practically barked.

"...Are you sure?"

"Some idiot kid came on to me and asked me if I was going to use a hook to fly my gear," she growled. "I could see the bastard laughing as he approached me..." She paused and glanced at her hand. I noticed there was a bit of blood on it. "I think I broke his nose."

"Baiken!" I scolded. "You can't just go punching everyone's lights out just..." I stopped speaking for a second as a thought came to my mind. "Did he have silvery hair and black eyes and a 'please, beat me to death' attitude?"

"You've met him, huh... So, you were saying?"

"...Never mind. Have a nice flight," I said and returned to my ship. Satisfied with her doing, she uttered nothing more and got inside the tank's cockpit as Octavius arrived at the scene and quietly joined my irritable friend. I knew we'd get into trouble later, but after all, WhiteHawkOne deserved it. However, I was curious about what he had said about Town Portals. While my friends waited for the TA members to arrive and take us to Reynard Beach, I approached Maici – so far the only one that had arrived.

"Hey, hey," she said cheerfully. "How are you, Ukyo?"

"I'm okay, thanks... Maici, I have a question: what are Town Portals?" I asked.

"A Town Portal is a teleportation device we use when our ships are on the verge of exploding," she explained. "We activate them and our ships automatically warp to the hangar. But we only use them in case of extreme emergency... Besides, they're really, really expensive. Why do you ask? Who told you about Town Portals?"

"This punk... WhiteHawkOne."

"Oh, I see."

"Why that tone? You don't like him either, huh?" I said with a grin.

"No, it's not that," she replied. "The thing is that his family has a lot of wealth. Don't ask me how they get it; I haven't heard good things about it and I'm not interested in delving into that. Whatever the case, for WhiteHawkOne, purchasing a Town Portal is like buying a pizza. He's got hundreds of them. His ship's never been hit: if he's about to be reached by a missile, he instantly uses a Town Portal. Then, he simply uses the Warp Shop—"

"Warp Shop?" I interrupted.

"Yes: it's a specialized warp. It is connected to every one of our gates within our territory. But you have to pay money to use it and, while it's cheaper than buying a Town Portal, it's not precisely a joy to your wallet. There it is, see?" she added, pointing at a strange gate at the far end of the hangar. It was like a small version of the gates we used to teleport from one place to the other, only that it had a squared shape. "Like I was saying, he uses that gate and appears on the battlefield seconds afterwards. He's never been downed."

"Have you been shot down?" I queried.

"Of course I have," she answered. She paused for a moment and then giggled. I think I was quite unable to hide my shock from her... "Well, not completely downed: Town Portals have saved me, of course. I always carry at least one with me. I appreciate life enough to always spare one. The thing is that I can't afford more than that. If my ship's hit and I'm about to blow up, then I use it."

"Aren't you worried that someone might blow your ship up with a single blast?"

"No, because VR4's modified my B-gear's shielding and armor and he's got my entire trust. I can take almost anything with that beauty. Sometimes, you simply don't need the Town Portal, you know. Sometimes you manage to dodge the missiles..."

"So WhiteHawkOne doesn't dodge at all? He just teleports?" I scoffed.

"He's not a bad flyer," she said. "His I-gear is extremely fast, he's got one of the best armors about, and he's good at dodging projectiles. But when he senses one's about to hit him... he just bails. He reminds me a bit of the Goons, regarding that."

"Oh, you mean the guys from yesterday? DoubleEagle, Riitta, and SirStabsaLot?"

"Those are the brigade's leaders. There're about fifty members or so..." she turned around and waved at Ziggy, Zephyr, BlackMercy, ShabelleTiger, Dan, Mosfet, and Djneff, who had decided to join us in our little hunt. Now that the team was assembled, it was time to take to the skies. "Okay, hop on your gear. Just remember what you learned in the simulator and you'll be fine."

"Roger," I replied and enthusiastically boarded my B-gear. I waited until every last one of them was within the cockpits of their aircrafts before turning on mine. The shields and engines went on, making all sorts of cool sounds. I grabbed the ships controls and began to turn it towards the runway, just like I had done in the simulator the day before. My heart pounded with excitement as I saw the rest of my friends sped up and took off. My turn came and I swooshed through the runway. The B-gear trembled as it crossed airstrip. I couldn't help it: I had to say it: "This feels good!!" I laughed as my voice shook due to the rocking of my aircraft.

I finally took off and we all crossed the warp in front of the city. We appeared at Reynard Beach. It was adorned by a beautiful sea which housed many of the creatures that we had to destroy in order to fulfill our mission; green, grassy pieces of land, and bright, yellow sand. Despite these natural beauties, there was also evidence that the war had reached this little paradise. There was an abandoned city to the north. The debris and broken vehicles were piled up around a smoking volcano. For a moment, I became worried that it might erupt at any second, but the TA's repeatedly told us that it had been sleeping for the longest times, and if it indeed erupt, getting out of there unharmed would prove to be no trouble. Still, the sight of the destroyed metropolis sort of screwed up the lovely scenery.

There was a landing pad left of the warp. We all began to fly about it as we established communication with each other.

"Can you hear me, guys?" Maici asked.

"Yeah, we read you," Ranma replied.

"Okay, let me do some explaining about your transmitters, fellas," ShabelleTiger said. "You can modify them to transmit to this entire area, your brigade mates, your formation mates, or to every A.N.I. on the planet. However, it may take a while for your messages to reach people that are really, really far away."

"Well, the planet is huge after all, right?" Jam guessed.

"That and the fact that each and every message is heavily encrypted," ShabelleTiger explained. "Between brig mates and form mates and within the area there's not that much trouble, but when you use global communication... well, we can't afford to have the B.C.U. learn of our plans."

"Even though they have spies everywhere," grumbled Dan.

"Yeah, but so do we, Shadaoh," BlackMercy stated. "Everything's fair in war, I'm afraid."

"And love," added ShabelleTiger with a chuckle.

"Which are the creatures we must destroy?" Octavius questioned.

"We call them 'large' and 'ronin'," said Zephyr. "Think of them as giant manta rays that... can even fly out of the water."

"But don't worry. The ships you're handling own," Djneff assured. "It'll be like duck-hunting."

"For you it's like duck-hunting, Djneff," replied Ziggy. "As is for the most of us. But remember how difficult it was for us at the beginning? We'll have to be patient with these fellows."

"But we never had a bunch of pros aiding us during our missions, did we?"

"...Okay, I'll give you that," Ziggy said with a chuckle.

"And you know we're good," Djneff went on. "We're bad asses! We make B.C.U. go... _meeeeoow_!!" he meowed. I swear he sounded more like a cat than Felicia herself. It was creepy.

"What the hell?" Mosfet laughed. "What the heck was that?"

"_Meeeoow_!" the bulky man repeated.

"That's freaky," I ventured to say.

"Well, guys, are you ready to go hunting?" asked Zephyr. "I-gears, follow Shabby and me."

"Okay," Leon said.

"Let's see what these babies can do for real," Jam added excitedly.

"Yo, Octavius, my main man," Djneff called. "Get your tanky on the ground and stay behind Mosfet and me. We'll show you the basics. After you're done with that, master Mosfet will show you how to make your enemies really suffer."

"I do what I can," Mosfet chuckled.

"Show me, then. I am eager to learn," the were-bear replied, although he sounded all but eager. For her part, Baiken didn't even make a sound.

"Fellas, you come with me," Ziggy said to Ranma, Ryoga, and Akane, flying before them. He snatched them with his tractor beam and formed them to his ship. "I'll show you how to do this. Your main goal is to keep people alive within the field of battle. You remember that, right?"

"Yeah, you told us that about ten times during the training simulation," Sakura giggled.

"Well, it's that important. Come on."

"Very well, Ukyo, let's get started, then," said Maici. "Let's go to the ocean. You'll find the targets in no time. When you do, I want you to use normal missile fire, okay?"

"Understood," I answered and did as she told me. "Dan, aren't you coming?"

"Not right now, Ukyo," he said. "BlackMercy and I are going to patrol the warp to Edmont. We'll be on the lookout, making sure no B.C.U. makes it through."

"Okay... thanks, I suppose."

"No problem. Good hunting."

Maici and I caught up with the rest of our friends as they flew into the ocean. We saw the large animals emerging from the watery depths of the sea and diving back with amazing speed. For a moment, I started to wander if my missiles would be quick enough to catch up with them...

Jam and Leon immediately locked on to the beasts in sight and shot them lightning fast missiles, obliterating them with a single shot.

"Holy crap!" Jam laughed. "This ship rocks! Did you see how many missiles we fired?!"

"That's the blessing of the I-gears," ShabelleTiger said. "The downside is that you'll have to go find landing pads more often in order to reload. We have the scattered all over our territory, but it's not wise to reload when there's a B.C.U. invasion."

"In other words, use your ammo wisely," Zephyr added.

"I see. We'll take note of that," Leon replied.

As I looked at their ships, I saw they indeed fired missiles like freaking mad. Each volley consisted of about... twenty projectiles. How on Earth was I supposed to evade that when I came across one of those things? Maici had told me that just by rolling most missiles would miss the ship... but most is not equal to all. Sure, I had an energy shield that would protect me from utter destruction (or so I liked to think). Yet, how many missiles would it take? Certainly not twenty...

"Weeee!! Look at them go!" cried Jam the moment she blasted another 'large'.

"Lucky you," Ranma grumbled. "We can only fire two missiles at a time."

"But they can't repair squat," Ziggy answered. "Look, it's a bit like this..." he instantly began to shoot his machine guns at our friends. The weapons on his gear were so tuned up that very soon our friends found themselves out of shields.

"WOAH!! Stop it!!" they cried.

"Easy, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just trying to prove my point," Ziggy declared. "Take a look at your shield gauge if you please."

"It's empty: you took away all our shields!" Ryoga exclaimed.

"Don't worry. For one part, it'll come back online eventually. But if you don't feel like waiting..." we then saw a strange, bright field cover our friends' aircraft. It was like the flicker of a dying candle. It shone just for an instant and then it was gone. "See? There you go. All taken care of."

"We remember the simulator, Ziggy. You didn't have to shoot at us like that, you know," Sakura said.

"It illustrates what you learned," the man chuckled. "But I'm sorry. I won't do it again. Either way, the point is that you guys can do all those things. They can't."

"Right, right..." our three friends mumbled and made no further complaints about the (relatively) puny weaponry of their vessel.

Octavius landed his tank on the surface of a rock. The sides of his tank attached it to the stone's surface and his turret began to move around. When he located his target, he fired. The potency of the shot was such that, if the tank wouldn't have been fastened to the ground, it would've recoiled horribly. The rock trembled with each shot he took. The creatures he selected for destruction couldn't stand more than four direct hits. This meant that they died in the blink of an eye, for his tank's cannon fired as if it were a mini-gun.

"That's what I'm talking about, big man," Djneff chuckled. "What did I tell you? Ain't it a beauty?"

"I must admit it is quite entertaining," Octavius said.

"How are you holding up back there, Baiken?" I asked. It took her a couple of seconds to get to the microphone and answer.

"Bored as hell, but there's really not much I can do about it," she replied.

"That bad?"

"Seeing Octavius blast stuff isn't such a big deal, believe me. Nevertheless, I'm not napping or anything. I'm on the lookout for monsters that might sneak on us. But so far, there's nothing that's been worth my attention."

"I see..."

"Okay, Ukyo, it's your turn," Maici said. "You've got supplies for three types of missiles. I want you to use 'Hawkies' right now, all right?"

"Okay..." I mumbled, configuring my ship so that it would fire those speedy projectiles. "'Hawkies' online. Do I take a shot?"

"Yes."

I locked onto a ronin and fired a pair of missiles. The projectiles flew swift and true, hitting the beast on its back. The creature turned around as it dived into the water. After a couple of seconds, it emerged from the ocean and glided at me in an aggressive fashion. I then pummeled it with machine gun fire and with another round of missiles, destroying it for good. I let out a relieved sigh as I saw it fall.

"That was a close call..." I muttered.

"Yeah, that was normal missile fire," Maici said. "It's time you tried out your bombarding maneuvers. First, let's find a ground target. Follow me." With that said, Maici and I flew away from the ocean. We soared to a sand-riddled area, where four-legged creatures walked about sluggishly. They seemed like... teapots made out of metal.

"What are those?" I asked.

"Guard Messengers," Maici replied. "We make those as practicing targets. They don't move much, so they're perfect for you. Go ahead – bomb one to oblivion."

"Just like in training, huh..." I said and flew near one of those things. I activated the bomb hatch. With a single button-press, a dozen of missiles fell on top of the creature, destroying it mercilessly. "Holy cow! I didn't think it would be that brutal!"

"And those were just 'Hawkies'... Try out your 'Bawoos', if you please," my tutor giggled. "Oh! But stay away from your target."

"Understood."

I obediently changed my missile line up. I closed in on my next target... readied my bombs... and then released them. I let out a tiny yell as my ship shook from the expansive wave that the incredible blast produced. I guess there's no need to tell you that there was nothing left of the Guard Messenger. It looked really pretty like a crater.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed. "That was brutal! The simulation program is nothing compared to all of this!"

"And now comes the really fun part," Maici said.

"Shot-gunning'?" I inquired.

"That's right. Go on and try it on a large or a ronin. We have to stick to the mission, after all."

What the TA meant by shot-gunning was, in few words, mid-air bombardment. It was very hard to do, because your target had to be right in the trajectory of your non-guided missiles. The reticule on my screen which let me know where on the ground my bombs would fall didn't help at all. It was all trial and error, practice, and instinct. Luckily for me, Maici and Dan had thoroughly taught me the art of shot-gunning the prior day. It took me a few tries to get it right, but in the end, I managed to destroy all of my preys much faster than my companions. I have to admit I was really proud of myself.

"The next step will be to do that against an enemy gear," Maici said. "That will be a lot harder, believe me. These creatures are stupid and have predictable flight patterns, I'm sure you've noticed..."

"Yeah, I have," I answered.

"Well, fighting against a B.C.U. is very hard. We'll have to duel a lot in the simulator before you're ready"

"Understood."

"You didn't use your charge shot, did you, Ukyo?" asked Dan.

"Not once..." I confessed.

"It's okay, Shadaoh," Maici intervened. "You and I know that it's more important that she learns shot-gunning first. She'll get her chance tomorrow."

"It's okay, it's okay... I was just saying," Dan said.

We kept hunting for quite a while. The sun sank in the ocean as we kept on killing larges and ronins. By the beginning of the night, we were dead tired. Fortunately, by the time our aiming began to suffer from our weariness...

"Well, it seems we have everything we need," Mosfet declared triumphantly. He and the other tanks had been gathering all of the fallen animals as they crashed into the ocean and now he had picked up our last catch. "I suppose we should go back to the city. Let's call it a day."

"Luckily no B.C.U. came," Dan said. "We'll have to meet them on the field of battle later on, though."

"For now, what do you say we take a nap?" BlackMercy suggested. "I'm dead tired right now. I need a nap."

"You're beginning to sound like Twist, Black," Dan chuckled.

"Zip it, whiz kid," his comrade laughed.

We made our way back to Arlington. We delivered the carcasses of the creatures to the laboratories, where they would turn them into vital items which, at the time, I had no idea what they worked for. Mosfet and ShabelleTiger politely excused themselves and went back to their own brigades' headquarters. For our part, we went straight to our own HQ's dormitories. We were dead tired: it had taken us all day to get the chore done.

I couldn't stop thinking about our friends. I really, really wanted to go look for them. I didn't want Wilheim and the others to risk their lives as rashly as they had done when he and Siegfried journeyed into the Temple of Pandora to rescue me. All I could do was to pray for them to be patient and careful, for if they were captured themselves, it would be my turn to plunge into hell to save him: a quest that, although not too happily, I would do without hesitation.

Jam, Baiken, and Sakura went to the dormitories and fell asleep almost instantly. The guys were knocked out almost as fast. I was getting ready to get some shut-eye when Maici stopped me by patting my shoulder.

"Hey," she said. "There's one thing that I forgot to tell you and it's really important that you know it."

"Oh, you mean about the Goons? You never got a chance to tell me about them..." I pointed out.

"Ah, no, it's not about them. That can wait until tomorrow, but I feel this is much more important: every B-gear pilot MUST know this."

"Okay..."

"The B-gear is the oldest ship there is. You already knew that, right?"

"Yeah, Zephyr told me about that."

"Well, it's the only thermo-nuclear model we have."

"...Thermo-nuclear?" I muttered.

"Yep. That's why you must never, under any circumstances whatsoever..."

_Narrator: Wilheim_

"...Connect the standard weapon hose to the advanced weapon socket," Araya warned Adrian with a very, very serious tone.

"What happens if I do that?" asked the vampire.

"Basically, there will be a short-circuit due to a system malfunction and the ship's thermo-nuclear core will explode. It'll be a blast that could destroy the city three times."

"Woah..." Adrian murmured. "Okay: connecting standard hose to advanced weapon socket: bad!"

"Catastrophic is a more accurate word," Araya chuckled. "So yeah; don't you ever do that, please; especially if I'm around."

"I'll do my best to contain myself."

"God save us," I intervened, mimicking the vampire's 'got ya' smile as best as I could.

"You, Shhh!!" he replied. "No one's talking to you! I'm flying a B-gear, you're driving a tank! And I was in 'Nam!"

"Yes, yes, surely, of course. Forgive me if I have trouble believing you, but you tend to bring that up in people."

"Bah! Mortals... But seriously: why would I do something like that? I mean, the hoses are always connected like they're supposed to, right?"

"Yeah, but sometimes, in battle, when your ship gets hit, some stuff may malfunction," Araya explained. "Look, it's happened more than once: some guy gets hit; he can't fire anymore; he rips off the control panel and finds that the hoses have become unplugged; the idea that they're bright mechanics just pops into their little heads; they try to get things fixed, and finally, boom. The B-gear starts to throw sparks as if it were a Christmas tree and about eight seconds later, it's bye-bye. So don't ever try that. Be advised, however, that you might see a B-gear lightning up all of a sudden. It happens every once in a blue moon, but it is a possibility."

"So... all I can do is to run my butt off, I guess," Adrian said.

"No: use your Town Portal WITHOUT hesitation," Araya replied. "That goes for you too, Will."

"Very well. Thank you for the advice," I responded.

"Will! Get over here!" Longtom called. "Your A-gear is right here, bro!"

"Have a nice flight, my friends. I want to take a look at the tank I will be driving."

"Go, go," Araya invited. Adrian mimicked me as I left. I simply let out a chuckle and shook my head. That vampire is impossible.

"Look at it! Just look at that freaking beauty!" Longtom said. "I love the A-gears. They own big time."

"What does the 'A' stand for?"

"For its original name: Anima Mortar," he declared. "You didn't know? Didn't Jazzy tell you about it at the simulator?"

"Not particularly. He just made us try out different ships in the simulations."

"...Huh..."

"He did tell us about the M-gear, though."

"I knew it! That must be part of his evil plan to get everyone to drive an M-gear! That control freak!"

I laughed as he fictitiously insulted his leader.

"All right. In that case, enlighten me: tell me about the A-gear," I said.

"What for? You already flew it in the simulator. Everything you need to know—no wait: there's one thing that you can't simulate: the gravity pull."

"What do you mean?"

"The A-gear is the heaviest sucker around. When you fly it, you'll be subjected to 12.7 G's."

"...All the time?" I muttered.

"No, no! Just when you fly as fast as it can go," he laughed upon seeing me so frightened. After all, I had never been subjected to a gravitational force greater than the one I experienced... every single moment of every day while waking up. "But believe me, you'll need to go fast if you don't want any missiles to hit you and you'll need to learn how to barrel-roll through projectiles."

"That sounds like it will make me dizzy..."

"Well, you can always put up the blue-bubble-magic."

"The anti-missile barrier?"

"Is there something else?" he chuckled. "Anyway, it's time for you to get inside. Oh, that other fellow with the headband is flying with you, isn't he?"

"Yes," I said. Ryu had decided that flying a gear was too complex for him and had opted to go as a stowaway with me on the A-gear's back seat. "He is not too fond of technology, I reckon."

"It's a shame. We can always use more fighters. Oh, there's Starsiege. Come on, let's have a talk with him before we go," Longtom said and beckoned me to follow him as he approached a tall man with dark glasses and a scar on his bald head. Quite a menacing look, I have to say, but it was all skin-deep.

"Hey, Longtom," the man greeted with a smile. "Is this the guy you told me about?"

"Yep, the smartest of the pack," my comrade said. "The only one that saw the future in the A-gear business."

"A man of sheer intelligence, I see."

"To be truthful, I am best known for always recurring to brute strength," I admitted and they both laughed.

"Oh, boy. Never mind what I said, then," Longtom declared.

"Well, don't worry about it, Wilheim," Starsiege said. "We'll teach you everything you need to know about the A-gear. Simulations are always good to begin with, but now you'll see what it can really do in real life."

"Very well. Thank you very much," I said.

"Damn!" Longtom suddenly laughed. "Check it out, Starsiege... there's DjFlaco," he pointed at a lonely man with dark skin, short army cut, and short beard. He seemed to be pasting some sort of poster on a nearby wall... depicting a girl with an excessively short skirt. "There's no cure for your condition, is there, DJ?!" he exclaimed.

"I'm just doing what nature dictates!" the man replied with a chuckle. "Aren't you a fan of my posters? They keep the morale up!"

"Undeniable, DJ... Undeniable."

"Oh, hey, Will," he greeted. "You better get in your ship, dude. We're starting the mission in about five minutes."

"All right," I said and headed to my tank. Ryu was already inside the cockpit, taking a look at the small refrigerator within the ship. "Already hungry, master?"

"We barely had breakfast!" he exclaimed. "Plus, the guys said it'll take us about ten hours to complete the mission."

"Well, the refrigerator is there for a reason, I suppose. Just be sure to leave something for me, please."

_(Change of scene)_

Shortly before leaving the ground, JazzyJet briefed us on our mission: we were to travel to a distant place called Zaylope Beach and destroy automated gears. Their artificial intelligence had collapsed shortly after their creation and since they had been causing trouble in that area. We were to decimate their population, for it was impossible to eradicate them completely. The automated factory that continuously produced them had not been eliminated yet: the war against the A.N.I. at hand was much more important than taking down this factory. Whatever the case, Jazzy told us that the artificial intelligence program on the robots was old and they were unable to learn patterns and to fight effectively against people. In other words, they were easy targets: it was a perfect mission for us.

New members of Wulfpack joined the hunt while some of them stayed behind taking care of other missions or simply resting their wearied bodies. There were Kobe and Gallger, two very young pilots who were actually cousins. Kobe was a sixteen-year-old lad who was an excellent I-gear pilot and a very gentle person. His young heart fell for Felicia in the blink of an eye. The cat-woman immediately noticed this. She felt quite flattered and hastily developed a special tenderness towards the lad. Gallger was even younger: his eyes had only seen fourteen years. His voice had not even begun to change. To see a boy such as him transformed into a soldier was truly heart-braking.

Aside from these fellows, two pilots from other brigades joined us. Starsiege was one of them; the other was a friendly man known as Pablosky. He wore glasses and had a sharp stare, but his glare was only superficial: like I mentioned, he was quite a nice fellow.

In the end, we set to Zaylope Beach along with Kobe, Gallger, Gallager, JazzyJet, DjFlaco, Apocalypse, Suicidal, Starsiege, Pablosky, Araya, and Longtom. Akane, who had officially declared herself incompetent to fly a gear, accompanied Jazzy in his ship. I suppose that, in a way, she was simply trying to get back at Ranma, even if he could not see her. Whatever the case, I was not upset or mad: after all, though an oral Don Juan, Jazzy was a true gentleman.

When we got to Zaylope Beach, Ryu had eaten about half our supplies. If I would not have turned around to ask him how he was doing he would have probably scoffed the last crumb of food.

"You're such a troglodyte, Ryu," Ken said on the radio once he listened to my tale of woe. "And the worst part is that Will's a little monster, too. You know, putting you two on the same ship with just one refrigerator was a huge mistake."

"Why did you not take him with you then?" I asked.

"B-gear, Willie. No more room here."

"I'm flying an I-gear; you can't throw him on me," Sora laughed.

"Same here!" Felicia added.

"That's because winners drive I-gears," Siegfried chuckled.

"Ah, you surely know what you're talking about, Siegfried, my main man!" Kobe laughed.

"We're not taking him," Donald quacked. "There're already two of us here, inside this M-gear."

"What was its full name again, Jazzy?" asked Goofy.

"Meadow Burg," the brigade leader replied. "The sexiest ship there's ever been. Just as sexy as yours truly. I'm hot."

"You're fat, that's what you are," Apocalypse intervened. "Everyone can see it from where they are: you're huge, fatty!"

"Fat equals sexy," Jazzy retorted, making us all laugh. "Besides, not all of us inside this cockpit are fat. We're sexy, but Akane's definitively not fat."

"Thanks, I guess..." Akane giggled.

"Easy there for a second people," DjFlaco said aloud. "There are our targets, just by the lake. Time for our new recruits to show us what they're made of."

"Let us just hope I do not make any mistakes..." I murmured to Ryu.

"You have my confidence, Will," he replied with a smile, patting my shoulder reassuringly.

"Time to begin," Gallager announced. "Go get those Ghosts, Adrian! Just like I showed you!"

"Guys! Guys! Check this out!" The vampire said. "Have I got a gift for them!" He loudly began to hum Grieg's 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' as he hastily positioned himself behind an artificially controlled bombardment ship. He remained behind it for a few moments and afterwards, he let loose a rain of missiles upon it, instantly destroying it. "Gah!! Holy crap!! Did you see that?! I rule!"

"B-gears rule, overall," Araya chuckled.

"Amouth-quality missiles. Can't get any better than that," Suicidal added.

I must clarify two things before going on. Firstly, Amouth was the brigade's... 'grease monkey'. Not only was he an expert at fixing damaged ships, but he also improved the missiles used by Wulfpack, turning them into fearsome, immensely powerful weapons. So far, we had not met him, yet his reputation as a blacksmith and a mechanic were, one might say, legendary amongst the ones who knew him.

The second subject I must address to is the fact that up until this moment, I had not specified the time of the day. It was midday and the sun shone brightly over the waters of the beautiful lake. Why is this an important matter, you ask? Well, as you may recall, Adrian – a vampire – was hunting with us. Why had he not been burned to a cinder by the bright star? That is because the windshields of the ships had a special alloy that absorbed every last bit of the sun's rays. Touching them was not particularly a good idea... Yet that is beside the point. They did not reflect nor let the rays through. In other words, our vampire was as safe as he could be inside the ship. This became the first time that he had seen the sun in centuries. Needless to say, he was in excessive high spirits.

"That was nice... Now it's my turn to try," Ken announced. He did the same thing as Adrian, only that he chose a speedier gear; an interceptor. He unleashed his rain of bombs upon the enemy, but the ship abruptly turned right and only a few hit the target. The foe turned around and locked onto Ken's B-gear. "Damn!" he exclaimed.

But before any of us could begin to worry about the situation he had gotten himself into, a horde of missiles blasted the gear away. Felicia had been the one who had fired the volley of projectiles and had thus saved Ken from a free lesson of evasion maneuvers. "Ha! Take that, sad excuse of a bogey!"

"You've got to be more careful with your bombings, Ken," Araya said. "Try to get as close to the enemy as possible from behind. That way, you're guaranteed to have your opponent eat all your bombs."

"Yeah, yeah. My bad... Thanks, Felicia," Ken answered.

"No biggie," she giggled.

"Skill and looks... where have you been all my life?" Kobe asked with a dreamy voice.

"Kobe's pheromone levels are through the roof," DjFlaco laughed. "Better watch out, Felicia; kids like him only have one thing in their minds."

"Thanks, DJ..." a most embarrassed Kobe muttered.

"Ah, come on, don't be like that!" Felicia meowed. "It's okay. You know I like you, Kobe."

"I'm in heaven!"

"I rest my case!" DJ cried and all of them laughed.

"My friends, I have a question and I hope that you will not be offended by it," I announced.

"Yeah, what's up, Will?" Jazzy asked.

"It does not seem that you are worried at all about the war. Why do you keep such an upbeat spirit in this time of grief?"

"Will, people ever tell you you're a party pooper?!" Adrian exclaimed.

"I'm not talking to you, you pest. Be quiet," I retorted with a chuckle. As a response, he began to mimic me with that annoying, shrill voice of his...

"No offense taken, Will," said Longtom. "See, it's like what you said: we're at war. We're on constant freaking war. We're serious when there's a need to be serious. But you can't be serious all the time: you just go nuts if you keep such a... somber attitude."

"Yeah; you have to be like me so you won't go cuckoo!" Adrian yelled.

"...I really do not have the least idea of how to respond to that," I laughed along with everyone else. "I now understand your point. Forgive my rudeness."

"What rudeness?" Longtom muttered.

"Don't mind him; he's crazy," the vampire announced. I thought of an answer, but I really had to start concentrating in earning some kills.

"You just can't be quiet, can you?" asked Sora. At the same time, he located a ground vehicle and fired against him. "Target acquired... I've got him!" he exclaimed triumphantly as the tank blew up into a thousand pieces. "These guys are too easy!"

"I'm sure they are, Mr. I-can't-stop-drooling-over-Jam's-legs," Adrian said.

"What the—? Shut up!"

"Those guys are too easy... YOU'RE too easy, shorty!"

"Shut up, you crazy goat!"

"Do I detect a flicker of shyness in your voice, Sora?" Jazzy questioned.

"Whatever, guys," Sora chuckled.

"Heads up, Goofy," Donald quacked as a red aircraft flew at them. They quickly faced their foe as it fired a pair of speedy missiles. They were able to dodge the first, but the second impacted right on their windshield. Luckily, the protective field had been intact so far, so they suffered no damage. They immediately used the M-gear's special abilities to restore their shields and blasted their target into oblivion.

"This ship is amazing," Goofy said with that characteristic, contagious chuckle of his.

"Yeah, we get to play doctor," Donald added. "Feels as if I'm fighting on foot."

"All right, Will, are you ready for your first kill?" Starsiege asked.

"I hope so," I said.

"We hope so," Ryu immediately added.

"Okay, then. These guys' missiles aren't that hard to dodge," the A-gear pilot declared. "You can blow them up in midair without much trouble. You don't even have to get into Siege Mode. Look: a Ghost just flew right over your head. Go get it!"

"Very well..." I murmured and began to burn the tank's thrusters. I hastily positioned myself behind the ship and let lose a single shot of my immense cannon. The blast was so fierce that the controls shook within my hands for an instant and Ryu bounced against the ceiling. The potent shot severely damaged our opponent, yet it still flew. It turned around and fired a barrage of missiles. I waited patiently until the last moment before rolling out of their way. I was not hit by a single projectile. I was amazed that I had not been the least nervous, even with the incessant missile-alarm going off as we were locked on. I immediately found my target and utterly destroyed it with a second shot. I was unable to hide my enthusiasm. "I love this monster!"

"That's what I'm talking about, Will!" Starsiege cheered.

"That got me dizzy..." Ryu whispered at the same time that he tightened his seatbelt.

"My turn!" my brother exclaimed. Moments later, he had gunned down a red ship with just his machine guns. "How about that?! The missiles are next, losers!"

"Time to have some fun... ready, Akane?" Jazzy said.

"Well, you've taken long enough!" our friend replied with a giggle while the skilled pilot aggressively hunted down the gears within his sight and hastily brought them down with certain shots. Before long, we were all yelling at each other through the communicator and laughing and cheering. I was not expecting a mission of the sort to be as fun.

Araya, Adrian, and the taciturn Pablosky cornered a group of tanks and they blew them up in the blink of an eye with a perfectly coordinated bomb attack.

"Owned!" Araya laughed.

"Good timing, guys," Pablosky said.

"BOOYAH!!" Adrian cried and after a few moments, he began to sing a song that, up until that moment, I had never heard before. That alone was proof of his immense happiness by being able to see the sun again, I reckon... "_I AM HUNTING HIGH AND LOW!!_"

And a second later, Felicia seconded him with special and in incredible tune with that lovely voice of hers.

"_Diving from the sky above... Looking for... More and more... once again!_"

"_I'M HUNTING HIGH AND LOW!!_"

"_Sometimes I may win, sometimes I lose... Just a game... that I play!!_"

"Stratovarius rules!!" the vampire claimed.

"Amen to that!" the cat-woman agreed.

"You rule!!" Kobe yelled referring to, obviously, Felicia. "Beautiful singing!"

"Thanks, Kobe," she meowed happily.

"I have never heard them before..." I muttered.

"Shame on you, Willie! But not as much as on Sora, who's a disgusting two-timer!" the vampire cried.

"A two-timer?! Me?! Why the hell?!" Sora stuttered.

"There you are, drooling at Jam while Kairi is waiting for you back at your island with open arms!"

"Hey...! I've never come onto Jam or anything!"

"You afraid I'll talk?"

"You keep your mouth shut!" Sora snorted, committing the grave mistake of sounding serious. This wired Adrian up even more. Luckily for the Keyblade master, Siegfried also made the grave error of intervening in the conversation.

"Besides, Jam's mine. You keep Kairi, Sora."

"Oh, great: I know what Jam must be thinking about you two," the vampire said. "'Who should I pick? The midget? Or the other midget?'" That was quite a good joke and everyone except the two victims laughed very hard.

"I'm not a midget!" Siegfried exclaimed. "I'm tall for my age!"

"Wilheim, is your brother a midget?" Adrian asked.

"Yes," I chuckled.

"Wilheim! What the heck?!" my brother cried as everyone laughed again.

"You owed me that one, Siegfried."

"Whatever..."

"You guys are just too weird..." Gallger, the quietest member of the pack, finally said with a shy voice.

"It's all Araya's fault—I mean, Adrian's," DjFlaco said.

"Ha-ha, DJ," Araya answered.

"It's not my fault that you two are twins separated at birth!"

"I'm much older than him!" Adrian claimed. "I trained Achilles!"

"Who is Achilles?" asked Jazzy. I suppose that, for a moment, the vampire forgot this was not our world.

"...Rats! Never mind: details, details..."

"You don't know? Jeez, Jazzy! You're always messing up!" Apocalypse intervened.

"Well, then let's hear it, wise guy. Who was Achilles?" Jazzy challenged.

"The guy who Adrian trained. See? That was easy!" he laughed.

"Adrian couldn't have trained Achilles!" Ken exclaimed. "For goodness sake; you get crazier by the minute, Adrian."

"Oh, Ken, ye man of poor faith," the vampire said.

"If Baiken were here, she would've already killed you, Adrian," Akane observed.

"Bah! I'm not afraid of her!"

"Of course: goats fear no danger," Siegfried said.

"...Rats!!"

"Owned!" Suicidal laughed.

"I have to admit it: doing missions with you guys will always be quite the experience," Pablosky said with a chuckle.

And in case you were wandering, yes: during all this time, we destroyed many enemy ships and were able to complete our mission by the end of the day. By nighttime, we were back at the city, resting a bit in our beds (unable to shake off the sensation of still flying the gears), and enjoying the trust we had gained from the Bygeniou community.

Yet before we had time to even fall asleep, 2Tricky entered the brigade's headquarters. His usual good mood had been replaced by a serious glance in his eyes as he sat down before Jazzy and announced:

"A.N.I. have been spotted at Blackburn Site. They are trying to kill the pilots in training."

"...It's not usual that one of those guys has a Town Portal, right?" Jazzy murmured.

"Right."

"Okay, then. Let's get going."

We exited the rooms as we heard their brief conversation and saw them as they were about to exit the place. Jazzy turned to us and said: "We've got to go take care of some A.N.I. You guys should stay here: it's dangerous for you to go fight them yet."

"We can't just stay behind," Sora declared. "You've done a lot for us. We have to help you. It's our duty, you know, to make things right."

"I can't ask you to take that risk."

"Ah, phooey," Donald exclaimed. "We'll be fine! After all, you trained us!"

"That's right, Jazzy. We've got what it takes," Goofy assured.

JazzyJet sighed and scratched the back of his head as Longtom joined us.

"Is anyone fighting them yet?" Jazzy asked Tricky.

"Narue, Rhinoterox, and Gerry have gone to scout the area," he replied. "Surely there are others from other brigades."

"Okay, then. Get ready, guys," the Wulfpack leader told us.

"Very well," I muttered with a slight sigh. I could have used a bit of rest...

"They really twisted your arm, didn't they, Jazzy?" Longtom chuckled while he grabbed his gear. At least he was still in a good mood.

We immediately left the headquarters and boarded our ships. The engines began to roar and we pointed our gears to the Warp Shop, which would teleport us directly to Blackburn Site, where the merciless A.N.I. awaited...

_(Author's note)_

This one's for the Air Rivals community:

Don't be upset if you didn't appear in this chapter – there are still three (or four) more to come. Bear with me, please :)


	11. Chapter 10: Skirmish

Chapter Ten: Skirmishes

Hey, again, boys and girls. Sorry for the delay, but... you know.

On the bright side of things, I'M DONE!! Not with the semester... I'M DONE WITH MY CAREER!! Okay, not with my _entire_ career, but I finished every subject. Now all I'm missing is the thesis... Wish me good luck on that!

Anyway, like before, this chapter goes to my friends at Air Rivals. I tried to include most of you in this chapter, guys... Those of you who are still missing, don't fret :) There are still chapters missing.

Once again, this chapter was too large, so I had to break it up in two parts... Only did I did manage to turn them into individual chapters. I'm just telling you so you won't be surprised when you don't find one of my usual litanies there :P

Also, I once again would like to thank Jazzy and Maici for their invaluable help and good old Kiosce for his ideas (mostly for the name of the character that will make an appearance in this chapter... and who belongs to yours truly). Mostly, however, I send my best wishes to you and hope you'll get better soon. I'll be waiting patiently (well... perhaps impatiently is more like it) to hear from you again, my friend.

I also thank Longtom for that unforgettable story, too... And, of course, thank you, Adrián, for all you ideas as well.

Well, I hope you enjoy! Later!

_Chapter Ten: Skirmish_

_Narrator: Ryu_

I really didn't like to be just a passenger in Will's tank. I wish I could've been more helpful to the guys. After all they've done for us, I truly would've liked to lend a hand. But the sad fact is that my knowledge on technology and ability to learn are pretty much non-existent. Tell me where a fist fight is and I'm your man; a dog fight on the other hand is something I just can't handle. I felt like a burden... yet in the end, I proved to be a bit useful to Will.

Before knowing that I wasn't a complete waste of space, though, I have to admit that I was a bit jumpy about the upcoming battle. The day before none of us had even been touched by a single shot (except Donald and Goofy, yet that didn't matter much to them, since they could repair their ship)... but that had been against computerized opponents. We were going to fight real enemies now, and I'm certain they would prove vastly more challenging than the automated gears. Not just that... destroying a robot is one thing; killing another human being is completely something else.

JazzyJet, Longtom, 2Tricky, Kobe, Gallager, Gallger, Balence, Araya, and Amouth – a tall, blonde man with a tough body and bright, blue eyes – quickly boarded their ships and started their engines. The rest of us caught up with them as they were getting ready to take off. I jumped on the A-gear's back seat and buckled my seat belt very tightly. Wilheim started the tank and drove it to the nearby Warp Shop. A sudden jolt shook the tank and then we found ourselves back on Zaylope Beach. We saw how all the ships, except for Longtom, formed on Jazzy and remained still. The lonely A-gear found a nearby mount and gently landed on it.

"Take a seat, Will. We have to wait a bit before jumping into the action," Longtom said.

"Very well," Wilheim replied and flew us to a neighbor peak. He then landed and waited patiently as the rest of our friends exited the warp.

"What's going on?" asked Sora. "Why are we back in Zaylope Beach? Wasn't the warning coming from... what's it called...?"

"Black Burn Site, right?" Felicia said.

"Yeah, BBS," Jazzy replied. "The thing is that we've gotten reports that the A.N.I. have camped the warps to BBS. The camp on the warp to Zaylope is a little weaker, though. Right now, our guys are trying to lure the A.N.I. away from the warp so we can go in. That's what we're doing here: waiting for Narue to send us the 'go' signal."

"Oh, I see..." Sora murmured. "Hey, I thought Atermel and Suicidal were going to join us..."

"They took on a special assignment," Jazzy explained. "An espionage mission... Because of that, sadly they won't be able to receive any transmissions coming from us. Although the A.N.I. can't make out what we say on our broadcasts, they can still pick up certain frequencies."

"In other words, they can tell when we're talking to each other," Araya clarified. "That's why they'll have his communicator turned off."

"Sounds like they'll be having the time of his life," Adrian said.

"Um... yeah, so to speak..."

And then, there was an unsettling silence.

I let out a nervous sigh as we waited for the call. I looked at our comrades' ships and at the mountains and at the star-filled sky. It was a lovely night. To think that elsewhere a fierce battle was taking place... and that we would soon form part of it. A chill ran down my back. I felt completely defenseless. There was no way I could fight back. I had my life in Wilheim's hands... Don't get me wrong: like I had said to him, he had my complete trust. Yet not being able to punch to defend myself was new to me. I wished I could fight in some way...

I opened the refrigerator door and found that there were only a couple of sandwiches left. I impulsively grabbed one and started to eat it. I never thought I'd be of the type that eats its weight on whatever when they're dead nervous. Wilheim glanced at me and merely let out a low sigh. He didn't say a word. I wished he had: I needed to talk.

Nevertheless, as I looked at the ships again, I found a good excuse to speak to someone. Gallager's ship had two emblems on it; something I hadn't noticed before. One of them was the Wulfpack logotype; the second seemed to be a winged-heart with a cross in its center. Why would he have two?

"Will, take a look at that," I whispered. Wilheim looked up and saw the symbol. He made a puzzled face for a moment and then shrugged. "Why do you suppose he has two emblems?"

"I have not the least idea," he answered. "I suppose we can ask him."

"Can you talk to him through a private channel? Maybe it's a touchy subject..."

"It could be. Give me a second..." he configured the radio so he would send transmissions only to Gallager. "Can you listen to me, Gallager?"

"Yeah, I hear you. What's up, Will? Why the PM?" he asked.

"PM?" we both muttered.

"Private message," Gallager clarified.

"Oh, it's just that we have a question..." Ryu said. "About the logo on your ship. You know... the one that isn't the Wulfpack emblem."

"...Ah, that," he said with a sigh. "That is the emblem of the Desert Paladins... my former brigade."

"What happened to them?"

"I used to be the leader of the group. We were a respectable force within the B.C.U. We fought honorably and fiercely..." he paused for a moment to let out a sad sigh. "It's not a matter of what happened to them. Most of them are fine: you're amongst them right now."

"What do you mean?"

"Wulfpack is JazzyJet's brigade, but many of its members used to be Desert Paladins. Kobe, Araya, and Gallger are some of them. Actually, Gallger didn't call himself like that back then: he was known as Skywalker." As he said this, Wilheim and I looked at each other and unavoidably grinned. "He changed it when it happened."

"What happened?" I asked.

"We signed up for a very dangerous mission that involved going into A.N.I. territory undetected. It just me, Kobe, Araya, and my best friend, Arken Riez... We made our way into Ardor Desert, where we were to spy on our enemies. We were discovered by an A.N.I. pilot. He attacked us with three of his toys—"

"Toys?" we blurted out.

"This guy – the pilot who engaged us – is an evil genius who has found a way to produce clones of himself, and he uses them as kamikaze pilots... his name is Shadaoh."

"That's terrible... so what happened?" I pressed.

"His clones dived against us. I managed to kill the one that tried to crash against me. Araya and Kobe did their best to destroy the clones that attacked them, but they weren't fast enough. However, they were able to fly away from them. That just left me, Arken, and Shadaoh. Arken flew an I-gear; he got as far away from Shadaoh as he could and then started to fire upon him like crazy. I remained close to our enemy and dropped as many bombs on him as I could. His ship has insane shielding and he's a formidable pilot: only a few missiles hit him and he evaded the rest. Afterwards, he attempted to bomb me into oblivion. I managed to dodge all of his bombs. But then, he flew away from me as if nothing and faced Arken... His engine is much better than mine; I was unable to catch up with him. My friend fired another barrage of missiles, but Shadaoh barrel-rolled and all of the projectiles missed him." Another pause and another melancholic sigh...

"I ordered Arken to flee: we all know how dangerous Shadaoh was. But my friend's courage and pride wouldn't let him do that. He engaged the fiend in direct combat, up-close and personal. I flew after them... yet I wasn't fast enough. Though Arken successfully damaged one of Shadaoh's wings, he... He got bombed. His ship began to smoke horribly. I ordered him to use a Town Portal... but he answered that it had been damaged during the explosion. His ship went down and crashed in the desert. I was blind with fury at that moment and went after Shadaoh, determined to avenge my friend. However, my hatred kept me from seeing one of his kamikaze toys, which impacted directly against me. I went down, just like Arken.

"Smoke poured into my cockpit. I was suffocating. I managed to barely get out of the ship. But my eyes were getting hazy and I was bleeding internally. I collapsed on the burning sand and coughed blood. Some moments later, Araya landed beside my broken vessel, jumped out of his gear, and dragged me inside of it. Then, he used his Town Portal... all of this while Kobe did his best to distract Shadaoh and the remaining clones. And at that moment, I passed out.

"I didn't wake up until a year later. I had been in a comatose state... The guys were beginning to think I was done for. They turned to Jazzy, who even then was a good friend of mine. He took them in like brothers... and then he took me. And Skywalker changed his name to Gallger, honoring me, I suppose." One final sigh and then he became quiet.

"That's terrible, Gallager... I'm really sorry to hear that," I murmured.

"It's okay," he replied. "All I can think of, though, is Arken. We never did find out if he was really dead... I can only hope that he still lives."

"Let us hope so," Wilheim added.

"Uncle Longtom..." Jazzy suddenly said through the radio. Gallager, Wilheim, and I tacitlydecided to leave the conversation for later. My friend changed the configuration of his transmitter again and listened attentively. "Tell us a joke."

The guys from Wulfpack and Adrian laughed. We merely smiled and shook our heads. It was difficult for me to conceive how they could be so light-hearted in such a situation. Nevertheless, I guess it's better than to be all gloomy and nervous...

"Let me think for a bit..." replied Longtom and then became silent.

A few seconds after that, Wilheim and I heard a strange sound. We looked at each other with alarm and leaned close to the transmitter's speakers.

"That is such an odd sound..." Wilheim muttered.

"Do you think it could be interference caused by the A.N.I.?" I asked.

"It could be... But wait! It sounds much clearer now..."

He was right. There was no mistaking it now: the sound came from a person who was simply... chewing.

"Jazzy!!" the Wulfpack guys called with a laugh. "What the heck, man? What in the world are you eating now?" Amouth asked.

"Um, burritos," he answered.

"You are so noisy, Jazzy..."

"Why do you all gang up on me? No one ever says anything to Araya!"

"Hey, I'm not making any noise," Araya retorted. "I could go ahead and do something like this..." and then he loudly slurped something. "Hmm, tasty... but I'm very quiet when I eat it!"

"What's that you're having, Araya?" asked Balence.

"Lemon slurpy, naturally."

"You're an addict," Tricky intervened.

"Me? Hey, we were talking about Jazzy!" Araya wined.

"Shut up, Araya," Jazzy said and they all laughed.

"Hey, now that I think about it, you should be ashamed, Jazzy," Tricky said. "You've got a passenger on your ship and there you are, chewing your food like an animal."

"I haven't heard any complaints," Wulfpack's leader replied. "Akane, are you all right with me eati— Dang, she's got a weird look on her face, so I guess not..." this time, we couldn't stop our laughter.

"You pig," Longtom chuckled.

"No, it's not about that!" Akane quickly intervened. "It's just that I'm still surprised that you're not the least edgy..."

"Who says we aren't?" Balence answered. "This is how we counter that."

"We can't be scared all the time," Amouth added. "If we are always scared, then we'll start making stupid mistakes and get killed. It's easier if we just laugh it up while we can."

"Didn't we talk about this yesterday?" Gallger shyly said.

"Yeah, but we were going after robots then... now we're going to fight real people," Akane argued.

"...I don't mean to sound crude, but this, sadly, is war," Amouth said.

"I know..."

"Let's try to take our minds off that, okay?" Siegfried interjected. "Um... Longtom, weren't you about to tell a joke?"

"Yeah, I've thought of one," the man replied. "Well, it's not a joke: more of a funny story, actually. And it's a bit long."

"That's still good," Felicia said. "Come on, tell it."

"It's about Anger Management – about a guy who one day made a phone call he'd forgotten to do. A man answers the phone, and this guy politely says: 'This is...' let's say, 'Chris. Could I please speak to Ms. Carter?' to which the man who picked up replies in a yell: 'Dial the fucking right number!' and then hangs up.

"This guy gets really annoyed by this and, after calling the right number, he calls the 'wrong' number again. The man picks up and he says: 'You're an asshole!' and then hangs up."

"I would've done that, too, probably," Ranma chuckled.

"You bet. But it gets better, hang on," Longtom said. "Anyway, the guy writes down the man's number, with the word 'Asshole' next to it. So, every time he has a bad day, has to pay his bills, or something of the sort, he calls up the jerk and does the same thing every time: he tells him 'You're an asshole,' and then hangs up."

"But I bet the jerk had a Caller ID, or something of the sort, right?" Felicia guessed.

"Hang on, hang on," Longtom chuckled in anticipation. "At that time, they didn't have Caller ID. It was later introduced, though. This guy gets worried that he'll probably have to put a halt to his therapeutic phone calls. Just to make sure, he calls the Asshole and says: 'Good evening, sir; this is John Smith, from the telephone company. I'm calling to see if you're familiar with our Caller ID program...' to which the asshole shouts: 'NO!' and then hangs up. So the guy calls again and calmly says: 'Well, sir, that's because you're an asshole,' and then hangs up!"

A loud, general laughter invaded the communicator for a few moments. After everyone calmed down, Longtom continued.

"Anyway, one day, he was at a store, and was getting ready to pull into a parking spot. A guy in a black car suddenly cut him off and pulled into the spot he had patiently waited for. He hit the horn and yelled at him, but the man ignored him. The guy then notices a 'For Sale' sign in his back window and writes down his number. A couple of days later, right after calling the first asshole – now he had his number on speed-dial, by the way – he calls up this other jerk, and says: 'Is this the man with the black car for sale?' 'Yes, it is,' the idiot answers. 'Can you tell me where I can I see it?' the guy asks, and then the jerk gives out his address. 'What's your name?' the guy asks, right after writing out the address..." he paused for a second as he tried to recall the name. "Hmm... Oh, and he replies: 'Don Hansen.' 'When's a good time to catch you, Don?' the man asks. 'I'm home every evening after five.' The guy writes this down as well, and then innocently says: 'Can I tell you something, Don?' 'Yes?' the asshole asks. 'You're an asshole!' and then he hangs up!"

More laughs. He truly was succeeding in getting our minds off the upcoming battle.

"Wait, wait, listen to this," Longtom said, doing his best to control his contagious laughter. "Afterwards, he also puts this jerk's number on speed dial, so whenever he's having a bad day, he can alternate between Asshole #1 and Asshole #2. And one day, he has a really, really crappy day, and he gets an idea...

"He calls up Asshole #1. 'You're an asshole!' he yells at him, but doesn't hang up. So, the jerk asks: 'You're still there?' 'Yes,' he calmly replies. 'Stop calling me!' the exasperated man shouts. 'Make me,' the guy challenges. 'Who the fuck are you?' demands the asshole, to which the guy answers: 'My name is Don Hansen and I live in' – insert Don's address here."

"Oh, I can see where this is going," I laughed.

"Wait, wait," our companion chuckled, doing his best to focus and to keep on telling the story. "Afterwards, he calls up Asshole #2, and says: 'You're an asshole,' and doesn't hang up. The jerk then yells: 'If I ever find out who you are...!' 'You'll what?' the guy interrupts. 'I'll kick your ass!' the Asshole concludes. 'Well, here's your chance, asshole, 'cause I'm coming to your place to get you.' Then, he calls up the police and tells him he's about to go to – insert Don's address here – to kill his gay lover." He had to stop for a brief instant, for we could barely contain our laughs. "Wait, I'm almost done," he said. "Then he calls up the news channel and warns them about a gang fight at Don's place. Finally, he gets up on his car, drives to Asshole #2's house and gets right in time to see two assholes beating the crap out of each other in front of six police cars, a news helicopter, and a crap load of news people!"

"That guy was so cruel!" Felicia meowed, but she could barely do so. She was laughing very hard, as were the rest of us.

"You sound so cute when you laugh!" Kobe said.

"That was a good one, Uncle Longtom," Balence chuckled.

"They had it coming," Donald quacked. "That's what they get for being so dumb."

"I don't know," Goofy murmured, but he was chuckling as well.

"That was a good joke of the day, Uncle Longtom," Jazzy said. "Well, now all we— heads up, guys! Narue just sent me the signal. There are only five ships guarding the gate. Let's move!"

"Go, go, go, go!" Gallager yelled. The laughter ceased completely as Wilheim lifted off and flew at full speed to the warp, along with the rest of our friends...

We appeared in a barren wasteland. The color of the nocturne sky had changed to a reddish tone. There was a haze of dust on the horizon: I could barely discern a ring of huge boulders on the Northeast. Yet I didn't have much time to study our surroundings, for we were greeted by a rain of shots and missiles. Like our companion had informed us, there were five gears formed up in front of the warp, emptying their machineguns, lasers, and missiles on us.

The tank shook as if struck by an earthquake. Wilheim held on to the controls firmly and dived at the ground.

"Ohh, shh—!!" I cried, unable to complete the curse as I felt my entrails invade my rib cage.

Wilheim, however, remained firm and steady and immediately landed on the ground. I looked up as he moved the turret about and began to shoot the gears of the formation that had greeted us. For his part, Longtom had become immobile on the air and was firing with the same potency as our tank. The B-gears took cover behind Jazzy, Donald, and Goofy as they charged against the formation head on and broke up when they were very close, bombarding their targets as they flew by. The I-gears flew away from the formation in search of more A.N.I. to fight.

The enemy leading gear was unable to keep the formation up. The foes scattered in all directions. Wilheim locked on to an enemy aircraft and relentlessly fired against it. The ship – a B-gear – soon noticed our hostility and turned on us. He swooped down from the sky and flew at us. I saw his bomb compartment beginning to open as he made his way...

"Wilheim, were in his bombing trajectory," I said. "Get us out of here."

"Just a little bit more..." replied my patient companion as he kept unloading our ammo on the B-gear.

"Will, we're going to get blown up!" I exclaimed.

"Brother, get out of there!" Siegfried's voice cried through the speaker.

"Hold on..." he muttered.

The B-gear tilted sideways – he was ready to unleash its bombs upon us.

"Will, for God's sake, MOVE!!"

"No need to move!" he answered and instantly activated a potent, blue barrier.

The B-gear unleashed his bombs upon us, but not one of them harmed the tank. Wilheim steadily moved the turret of our vessel after the enemy and kept pummeling him with cannon fire. The B-gear tried to keep close to us so that Will would have a harder time locking on to him. However, my friend immediately moved the tank back and fired a volley of speedy missiles at the fiend. One of the ship's sides blew up. The vessel flew away from us and then suddenly disappeared into thin air.

"He must have used a Town Portal," Wilheim murmured. "We will not see him soon."

"Yeah, that's good..." I said, still a bit shocked. Will had taken too long to turn up that barrier, to my liking... "Well, on with the— Will, there's an enemy ship coming from the back – an I-gear, I think."

"You are right," he grumbled as he looked at the radar. "And our barrier has consumed the ship's energy. Hang on: it is time to make this monster fly like a swift falcon."

"Less talk and more action, Will!"

We lifted off right about the same time as the missile alarm went off.

"Bloody hell..." he growled. "We have been targeted. Ryu, look behind and tell me when to roll."

"Damn it, I knew this wasn't going to be fun," I replied and turned on my seat. I saw the projectiles heading our way, leaving a trail of fire and smoke behind them. There were about... twelve of them, perhaps more. I really couldn't tell very well. I was just worried that Wilheim would be able to evade all of them. "Here they come! Get ready, Will! One... Two... Three: roll!"

The A-gear shook horribly, pulling us with its immense weight with a swift turn. At the end of the roll, I felt as if all my organs had been put inside a blender. Fortunately we evaded every single missile. Wilheim slowed down and waited for the I-gear to fly past us. But the enemy pilot activated his reverse thrusters and flew away from us, firing two more volleys of projectiles as he did.

"Crap!" I yelled.

"Hang on, guys!" Siegfried cried and flew to our aid at full speed. He unloaded heavy machine gun fire and lots of missiles upon our pursuer, yet the A.N.I.'s shield easily deflected the bullets while he rolled through all but one of the projectiles.

"Will, Siegfried, get away from that I-gear!" exclaimed Balence through the radio. "Corak's a killer! Get the heck out of there!"

My friend stepped on the gas, taking us as far away from our enemy as possible. The volleys were catching up to us. The tank was fast, yet not fast enough to outrun the missiles. As for Siegfried, the fiend wasn't even paying attention to him. My guess is that he wanted to finish us off first so that then he would concentrate his fire on Wilheim's brother.

"Roll, Will! Roll!" I cried.

Wilheim did as I told him and successfully evaded the first volley. The second, however, went straight up our rear end. Our ship trembled as if struck by a thousand lightning and we lost altitude. We were still able to stay aloft, but the tank wasn't in good shape.

The fiend was getting ready to fire another volley when all of a sudden, another one of our companions began to shoot him from behind. The I-gear turned against its pursuer, only to be greeted by a taste of his own medicine.

"Got him!" triumphantly yelled a feminine voice. The enemy I-gear nose-dived into the ground, yet vanished right before it hit the rocks.

"Way to go, Narue!" Tricky cheered. "That's why I love you."

"Right back at you, Tricky," she giggled.

"Are you okay, Wilheim? Ryu?" Siegfried asked with concern.

"A bit shook up, but we're okay," I forced myself to reply.

"We are fine," Will said. "Thank you for your help, brother."

"Thank me next time I'm really useful, brother," he answered.

"Yeah! The formation's been downed!" Ken added. I looked to where our enemies had made their stand and saw none of them. Indeed: every last one of them had been sent home. "That's how we do that!"

"That was just the beginning," Narue said. "Follow me: the real party is everywhere else."

"How are you holding up over there, Ryu?" asked Ken.

"I've had better days..." I answered. "Luckily, Willie's not a bad pilot."

"He evaded quite well," Balence observed. "Just try to stay away from I-gears like Corak. Or if you shoot at them, be sure to have some back up."

"Advice taken," my companion said.

"Thanks for getting rid of that guy, Narue," Araya said. "I hate that jerk. I don't know why he went after Will: he always aims for me."

"I know only too well, Araya," the girl said.

"Guys, there's another formation northeast from here!" Sora warned. "They're coming straight for us!"

"I'll just fix Will's tank real quick and then they'll be in for it," Donald quacked.

"Let us take care of it," Tricky said. "Araya, do your thing."

"Okay... it's suicide time," Araya replied firmly and steadily turned towards the formation.

"Suicide time? What are you planning to do?" I nervously asked.

"Don't worry, Ryu; I do this all the time," he calmly answered. With that said, he speeded towards the group of enemies. As he did, his ship began to accumulate massive energy. Soon, his B-gear was pulsating with power. The enemy formation – which consisted of two I-gears, three B-gears and (of course) and M-gear – relentlessly fired at him dozens of volleys of missiles. Nevertheless, Araya stayed on target, trusting in nothing more than his skill and his shields as he absorbed many direct impacts and barrel-rolled through hordes of projectiles. Suicide time, indeed... I wanted to tell him to get out of there, but I was afraid that if I called to him I would distract him and that then he would get blown up like popcorn.

Our fellow B-gear was at last close enough to the formation. He unleashed a mighty, direct shot at one of the I-gears without hesitation. Upon receiving such sever impact, the fiend had no choice but to withdraw from the flight formation and disappear into nothingness. Following that, Araya passed through the formation, bombing a B-gear as he went. The enemy nearly blown up, but he vanished in time to save himself (at that moment, I didn't know whether to feel disappointed or relieved on the matter... after all, I wasn't really excited about watching someone die). The rest of the formation turned to him and fired upon him relentlessly.

It was then that the teamwork of Wulfpack shone its brightest. As Araya distracted the rest of the gears, Tricky shot the M-gear mercilessly. His projectiles packed the strength of a titan. The defensive power of the M-gear was promptly overcome... Before long, the enemy ship was unable to hold the formation together and was forced to retreat. The remaining three gears decided to focus their fire on Tricky, turning their back on Araya, who was now far away from them. They all fired against the agile Wulfpack I-gear, who skillfully evaded most of their missiles. His ship was damaged, yet was instantly fixed by our M-gears.

The distracted enemies were so concentrated in bringing Tricky down that they failed to notice a single B-gear that flew at them from behind at full speed, charging energy as it went, and opening its bomb compartment. The pilot was loudly growling (I would say humming, but it didn't sound anything like a hum) "In the Hall of the Mountain King". Yep: you can probably tell by know who it was.

"Welcome to the party, pal!" Adrian yelled as he unloaded a volley of bombs against one of the remaining B-gears and damaged the last I-gear with his charged-shot. The latter, bereft of its shields, opted for a quick escape, while the B-gear remained on the battlefield.

The confused pilots started to fire at the vampire that quickly got away. Felicia and Sora, however, immediately flew to Adrian's aid. Their missiles flew swift and true and almost destroyed our two remaining enemies. The foes, seeing that they had utterly lost this battle, retreated at last.

"That's two forms down!" Narue cheered. "But there's still a lot of work to be done."

"You just owned Slimcoke, Tricky!" Kobe added. "You're a monster! Way to go!"

"Yeah, but I'm not broken, like Araya," Tricky retorted with a chuckle.

"There are many other gears way tougher than me," Araya contested.

"Whatever, Araya. You're broken," Jazzy said, sounding as serious as we could and we all let out a relieved laugh which was soon interrupted by a cry of help.

"Guys, I hate to interrupt your party..." an unknown voice – with a very prominent Scottish accent – suddenly said through our transmitters. "But could you perhaps lend us a hand before we get blown into tiny chunks of metal??"

"We're on our way, Gerry," Jazzy answered. "Follow my lead, guys. Donald, stay next to me. It's time for operation-human-shield."

"I don't like the sound of that..." Goofy said with a gulp.

"You'll be fine; you're M-gears," Balence assured.

"B-gears, stay behind me," Gallager said. "And Will; you and Longtom find Rhinoterox and stay close to him—but not too close."

"Copy that," Longtom replied.

"Understood," my companion answered.

"These guys mean business!" Gerry yelled. "Hurry it up, guys! There have already been lots of casualties!"

"...Shit," Amouth growled. "Freaking A.N.I..."

"There are lots of—you, pilot!!" cried the Scotsman. "Get back here, now! Don't fly into that formation!"

"I can take them!" answered an unknown lad. "I can take them!"

"Use your Town Portal, for God's sake!"

"I can—!"... And after these two words, there was only interference on the transmitter.

"Oh, Lord..." Felicia muttered.

"Damn it!" Gerry cursed. "Oh, crap! Now they're after me!"

"What's your position, Gerry?" Gallager questioned.

"We're by the pad!"

"I can see them on the radar, Wilheim," I murmured to my companion while looking at the screen of our scanner. "I can see their names... and the enemies' ones, too... Hey—Rhinoterox is by that mountain on the left."

"Where?" Wilheim asked.

"It says so on the radar... He must be... there!" I shouted and pointed at a lonely tank, its sides holding firmly to the rocky ground, his cannon firing up to the point where it was beginning to change into a bright, red color. He had his blue barrier turned on and was withstanding the onslaught of three enemy B-gears.

"I see him," my friend said. "Longtom, we must draw their fire!"

"All right," Longtom replied and we both headed to our comrade's aid.

We fired volleys of speedy missiles and fired our cannons without rest. The fiends, distracted by our fire, ceased their attack on Rhinoterox and went after us. I held on firmly as Wilheim turned around and raced through the barren land with a B-gear on our tails, while Longtom had found a place next to Rhinoterox and had commenced fire on the other enemies.

As Wilheim took us out of the A.N.I. B-gear's bombing range (because he wanted to finish us off with a single strike, rather than wear us down with multiple missiles), I managed to see, to my dismay, a very large group of enemy ships which our valiant friends had already engaged in aerial combat. Most of them were I and B-gears; there about five M-gears and perhaps three A-gears.

I saw Gerry's name on the radar. He was being chased by a speedy I-gear. His ship didn't look in good shape: it smoked horribly and even seemed to be on fire. To make matters worse, neither Jazzy or Donald and Goofy were close so they would work their healing magic upon him...

The Scotsman was flying straight at us. We were unsure of what to do...

"You... Wilheim!" he said after reading his name (I reckon) on his radar. "Turn to the right on the count of three!"

"Is this something like playing chicken?" I muttered.

"Not quite: I'm behind him," Ken answered.

"Ah, I understand," I said.

"Very well, then," Wilheim agreed. "Count down, Gerry."

"On three! One... shit, three!!" he exclaimed abruptly, seeing that we were seconds away from crashing. We barely dodged each other. I literally held my breath when Wilheim steered the tank right. The A.N.I. noticed our machination and successfully avoided a head-on collision. Nevertheless, Ken intercepted the one that came behind us and bombed the heck out of him. Again, the enemy was able enough to warp to his home before his ship completely blew up.

At that moment, Wilheim landed flat on the ground and directed its turret toward the fleeing enemy vessel and activated a tractor beam which snared our opponent, slowing him to a near halt.

"Hey, Will; Gerry and Ken can catch up with him as it is," I said. "Ease the grip on him a bit: you're wasting a lot of energy."

"Yes, you're right," he answered and diminished the energy on the snare ray. The A.N.I. gear acquired a bit more speed, but Will had already slowed him down too much. Gerry got to him before Ken, yet he was more than enough to defeat him. The Scotsman flooded our opponent with nearly thirty missiles. By the time the second volley had hit him, the A.N.I. was forced to retreat.

"Good job, Wilheim," Gerry said. "Now, back to the pad. Our friends still need all the help they can get!"

"Onward," Wilheim murmured and flew closely behind Gerry and Ken. Seconds later, we were back at the path, where many A.N.I. formations were still attacking our fellows.

We later learned that Black Burn Site was a training ground for young pilots who had just earned their wings, so to speak. These guys barely knew anything about fighting and most of them charged with blind valor into the enemy, only to be obliterated by a much superior foe. Most of them hadn't even gathered the necessary amounts to purchase at least one Town Portal... which meant that most of them hadn't been able to escape the explosions of their ships. I noticed this as I looked at the pad and the mountains near it and spotted many broken ships, most of them still engulfed by fire and smoke that slowly gnawed the cadavers of the young pilots within their cockpits... A truly horrible sight that made my blood burn with anger.

Wilheim landed next to Longtom and Rhinoterox and commenced fire against the A.N.I. The majority of the fiends were I-gears and they were very difficult to hit because of their speed. Luckily, our friends were keeping them very busy. I remained on the lookout for B-gears – a tank's worst enemy.

Kobe and Gallger fought very closely to Felicia (I guess you can tell why). They coordinated their attacks so well that their opponents were unable to evade their volleys. If they spun through one, they would be hit by the other. There were only a few that successfully evaded that entire onslaught, but these were quickly downed by Gallager, who was always on the lookout for distracted I-gears. Not that he didn't have the courage to engage one in a dogfight, of course. And, if one of these enemies was lucky enough to escape the brutal bombardment, he would still have to try and make it through Siegfried. While not the most skilled flyer, he had perfect timing with his attacks, because he was quick to spot weaknesses in the enemy fighters.

Amouth steadily positioned himself in front of an A.N.I. formation and began to fire dozens of volleys of speedy, un-guided missiles. Though his projectiles didn't home in on his opponents, they had a blast radius that affected them all the same... Like a tank, only that his missiles hit much harder than the ones of our A-gear. However, by putting himself on this position, he was also really vulnerable to the enemy's onslaught. Donald and Goofy remained close to him and fixed his ship as quickly as they could, fortunately. Yet I could see they were slowly wearing him down, and what was more, upon noticing our friends' M-gear, they sent a couple of powerful I-gears after them.

"Donald, watch out for LordYue!" Amouth warned as the enemy fighter flew right past him. "He hurts a lot!"

"Aw, phooey," quacked the wizard, reluctantly flying away from Amouth and the A.N.I. formation. Seconds later, he was reached by a volley of the A.N.I.'s missiles – their M-gear shook as if struck by lightning.

"Gwarsh!" Goofy exclaimed. "I didn't think his projectiles could be this strong!"

"We're losing altitude!" Donald cried.

"Bring them to us!" cried a voice I hadn't heard before – I then realized it was Rhinoterox.

"That's right, get them over here, Donald," Longtom added. "Will, get ready to blast them away!"

"Understood," Wilheim replied.

While Donald and Goofy desperately tried to get the I-gears within our cannons' reach, Balence, Jazzy, Sora, Felicia, Siegfried, and Adrian were doing their best to protect the young pilots that were being slaughtered by the enemy. Jazzy provided physical cover (much to Akane's dismay, from what we heard on the transmitters) while shooting at the enemies. I had heard that the M-gears were supposed to be passive and to mainly assist other ships. Jazzy did assist other ships, but he charged into battle bravely, employing his best maneuvers to get out of missiles' way and to hack down the A.N.I. invaders all at once. Balence chased after the fleeing gears with his superior thrusters and downed them with his powerful projectiles. Some A.N.I. were unable to use their Town Portals in time and vanished under a cloud of smoke and fire. Sora, Felicia, and Adrian tried to escort the young pilots to the portal that took them to another region – Bach Mountain Chain – yet the kids thought they were already men and insisted on fighting against the A.N.I. Only a few of them actually listened to reason and fled back to the safe region...

I know what you're probably thinking: "How can you say that rookies are useless, Ryu? After all, you guys were... rookies, weren't you?" and you would be right. But see, the thing is that these young pilots didn't have tuned up their ships. The armors of their gears were still too weak and could barely withstand the direct impact of a speedy missile. Wulfpack had provided us – brigade mates – with very potent ships and that was why we were faring so well. I'm sure that many trainees had the necessary skills to take on any of those fiends. Yet what they had in skill and bravery, they lacked in machinery power and common sense. I've always belonged to the group that thinks that technique and wit is more important than brute strength alone; however, great skill can't defeat great skill and tremendous power. Not even in great numbers, it seemed...

I couldn't think about all of this for long. Donald and Goofy had already dragged the I-gears to the range of our cannon fire. We spared them no mercy. One of them fell on our trap and was forced to retreat, but the other – LordYue – smelled the ambush and turned on his reverse boosters. He then fired three volleys at each of us. Luckily, we had all saved up enough energy to turn up our special shields. Nevertheless, even with this advantage, LordYue slipped past our missile fire and swarmed us with many projectiles. Our barriers began to worn down. At least we managed to get his attention off Donald and Goofy, who had already fixed their ship.

"Damn it, I hate this bastard!" Rhino growled. "He's too fast!"

"Not fast enough for backup!"

As these words were heard through our transmitters, LordYue was pummeled by machine gun fire and three volleys of missiles. We turned about and noticed that six ships had come through the warp, all of them bearing the Wulfpack emblem on their wings. I looked at the radar to see who they were. Four of them I had already met: DjFlaco, UpDaBut, Yukunism, and Apocalypse. The remaining two were unknown to me. They were: EvaRaine and Sniperdog. They flew an M-gear and an I-gear, respectively. Yes: the five-I-gear and the lonely M-gear backup was indeed welcome.

The A.N.I. was forced to turn tail and run from this superior force. I sighed in relief and tightened my bandanna. With all that movement, it had gotten a bit loose. However, by the look of things, we had completely gotten rid of the A.N.I. invaders. The pad was clear... unfortunately, there had been many casualties.

"Look at that, Will," I murmured upon glancing at the wrecked ships of the young pilots again, as well as their burnt bodies. "Poor guys... They weren't ready."

"Neither are we," my companion replied. "Yet here we are. God has smiled upon us today, my friend, even though our victory came at a great cost."

"All right, I-gears, let's kick their asses out of here!" Balence exclaimed and with that, all of our fighters turned their boosters' power up and flew after the few A.N.I. that were left, chasing them to the portal that led to Zaylope.

But we had all sang victory too soon.

"What the heck?!" Sora yelled. "Dang! Fall back, guys! Incoming!"

"Goddamn it, how many of them are there?!" Siegfried wailed.

"Keep calm, guys," Jazzy ordered. "Talk to me, Balance."

"We've got a crap-ton of A.N.I. coming through the Zaylope warp, Jazzy!" Balance informed. "I think we're facing an invasion."

"Okay, don't panic, people: rendezvous at the pad and we'll drive them back."

"Shit, Jazzy, they're Goons," Gallager growled. "And they're outnumbering us two to one."

"Those sons of bitches!" UpDaBut growled.

"We need to call for back-up, Jazzy! We won't be able to hold them back by ourselves!" one of the Wulfpack we hadn't met – Sniperdog – pressed.

"The more you fear them, the stronger they are," Araya said. "Come on, guys, let's face them."

"What about backup?" Sniperdog insisted.

"I never said we didn't need any, but we're not running away."

"Guys, I've got one of them behind me!" Felicia intervened. "I can't shake him!"

"Damn it, it's DoubleEagle," Kobe murmured. "Gallger, help me get him off her!"

"All right, I'm on my way," the young pilot answered.

"Eva, get as many rookies as you can out of here and then come back. We need as many M-gear as we can have," DjFlaco said.

"Will you be all right?" the woman replied with a concerned tone.

"Don't worry, baby, I'll be fine," he assured.

"I'll make you sorry if something happens to you!" she threatened and started to gather as many ships as she could hold in her formation field and directed them to the safety of the warp to the mountains.

"What do we do?" I asked.

"Sit tight and wait for the fight to get here," Rhino replied. "Don't worry: Goons don't waste their time. If we let them near here, they'll kill all the trainees."

"I'm right behind you, Felicia!" Siegfried exclaimed. "Don't worry; I've got this son of a bitch locked on!"

"Siegfried, get away from him!" Yukunism warned. "If he sees you, he'll go after you!"

"I'm firing my missiles!" Siegfried answered, choosing not to heed our companion's advice.

I saw the three ships in the distance. Felicia was being chased by DoubleEagle and Siegfried was closing in on the latter. The moment he fired against the foe, DoubleEagle ignited his reverse thrusters and charged against our friend. Siegfried barely had time to react and was hit by the entire volley of missiles the enemy unleashed upon him. His ship caught fire and began to descend rapidly.

"Siegfried!!" Wilheim wailed, his hand moving to the tank's controls, getting ready for take-off.

"We've got him, Will!" Donald declared. Their M-gear swooped down and caught our friend's I-gear before it hit the ground. Goofy and the duck then used their vessel's energy to repair his ship. Very soon, Siegfried's ship was intact, but Donald and Goofy's M-gear was out of power for the moment.

"Are you okay, Siegfried?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah... I'm all right," he replied.

"I will deal with that imbecile personally," Wilheim growled and readied the tank for flight.

"Will, stay put," I said.

"He nearly killed my brother! I will not remain here and wait until that happens! I will crush him like a rat."

"We're inside a tank, Wilheim!" I reminded him. "I'm sure you would pummel him on a fist fight, but this is a dogfight, and you're just fresh meat to him! Stay put!"

The impetuous fighter merely let out a growl and then his hand returned to the turret's controls. Both brothers could be a bit rash when their friends were in trouble. Luckily I managed to get him to listen to reason. Otherwise I probably wouldn't be telling you all of this.

"There's too many of them!" Apocalypse yelled. "We can't take them here! We need to take them to the pad!"

"There are still ships on it!" Akane pointed out. "Eva is going as fast as she can!"

"Hold them for a few more minutes, guys," Jazzy said.

"We'll give you thirty seconds!" Ken answered.

"Timeserv and SirStabsaLot are here!" Amouth announced. "We need to take those jerks down before we move in against DE!"

"We need an A-gear here!" Balance said.

"Longtom, Will, you two go help them," Rhino said. "I'll stay here and help Eva and the others."

"Okay, now's your chance," I said to my friend. "Just don't overdo it."

"...Understood," he limited himself to reply.

"Follow me, Wilheim," Longtom said. We flew at full speed to our friends' aid. The battle had become much more intense and far more perilous. The A.N.I. were very well organized, but their main objective didn't seem to be to destroy us. Rather, half of them were keeping us occupied while the other half went after trainees that had gone astray and destroyed them in a matter of seconds. It appeared there were more pilots training in Black Burn than we thought at first. I saw how one of those I-gears broke off from the fight and blew up three pilots before they even had a chance to fire against him.

"Goddamn it!" Amouth yelled.

"Guys, we could really use your help against these M-gears right about now!" Tricky said.

"Will, I need you to fire a Shield-paralyzing Capsule against Timeserv on the count of three. I'll fire one against SirStabsaLot," Longtom instructed. "Afterwards, they're all yours, guys."

"Just do it!" Gallger pressed.

"Begin the countdown," Wilheim said.

"One... two... three!!" Longtom yelled and both tanks fired a single, blue, capsule of massive energy that crashed right against the M-gears, thus screwing up their shield regenerating system and disabling their ability to repair their fellows' vessels. "Bomb away, guys! Tricky, do your thing!"

"Time to release the Amouth within!" Araya exclaimed. His ship abruptly stopped in midair and his missiles' firing compartment suddenly changed. Afterwards, he began to fire a stream of projectiles against the enemy I-gears, keeping them away from the other bombers and Tricky, who were now mercilessly attacking the A.N.I. M-gears.

"Talk about handy..." I muttered. "I didn't know the ships could hold more than one type of missile."

"I do not pretend to understand this or how can they carry so many projectiles," Wilheim said. "My only desire right now is to force these foes to withdraw."

"Yeah... Well, in that case, less talking and more firing!"

"Yes, master." Our tank reeled back as Wilheim unleashed a new wave of monster-sized bullets against the A.N.I.

An enemy I-gear flew at Siegfried at full speed. It fired numerous missiles against our friend, who was so busy pursuing an opposing B-gear that he didn't notice the volley of projectiles heading towards him. We tried to warn him, but before we got a chance to do that, Kobe directed his aircraft against the ominous volley, impacting against every single missile. His I-gear began to plummet to the ground.

"Kobe, no!" Siegfried yelled, realizing what the brave lad had done.

"I'm hit!" Kobe answered. "I need repairs, quick!"

"We're out of energy!!" Goofy wailed.

"Town, Kobe!" Araya ordered.

"Shit!! Sorry, guys!" Kobe yelled in frustration and his ship vanished from the field of battle.

"Damn A.N.I.," Felicia grumbled. "Now they're gonna—Crap, I've got Riitta on my tail!"

"Bring her to me!" Gallager said.

The cat-woman did as the B-gear pilot instructed her. However, the enemy I-gear was very close to her and if she fired, Felicia would not be able to dodge the attack at all. Our witty friend flew to the circle of rocks in the middle of the battle field and there, she went through holes in the stony walls, flew right below natural bridges, and almost nose-dived into the boulders. Thankfully, her strategy worked, because, even though Riitta was a very dangerous, skilled pilot, Felicia's reflexes were much sharper and this allowed her to gain some distance.

Once she achieved this, she flew her ship straight against Gallager. The B-gear pilot flew right above our friend and bombarded the enemy vessel without mercy. Riitta's ship caught fire and began to descend at a deadly speed. As I saw her fall, I predicted she would escape at any second. And right before her ship crashed against a very shallow lake, she disappeared.

"Whew! Thanks, Gallager! That was a close call!" Felicia said.

"As long as you're okay..." he replied.

"Gallager, look out!!" Adrian warned.

The vampire's word of caution came too late, though. An enemy B-gear – Bombassbeyach, if my memory doesn't fail me – unloaded a full cargo of bombs on our companion. The B-gear lifelessly fell from the sky. Fortunately, the pilot within was still alive, yet he was forced to flee.

"Damn it!!" he cursed. "I need to town! I'll send in reinforcements!" and with that, he left.

"Fuck these guys!!" Longtom roared. "What about those freaking reinforcements?! We're two men down now!"

"Pablosky, FireFalcon, Spazzy, and Starsiege said they're on their way," Jazzy answered. "Eva, how are we doing? I won't be able to hold them off for much longer."

"I'm almost done," Eva answered.

"Hurry up; DE's heading towards the pad!" Narue cried. "I'll try to slow him down!"

"We would appreciate that very much."

"How long before you guys come help us?" Gallger asked.

"Give us a few minutes," Eva replied.

"We'll be dead within thirty seconds, so you better move it!" Amouth said.

Shortly after he said those words, the A.N.I. noticed our tank. Wilheim had already taken down two enemy gears and had remained unpunished for his doing so far. Nevertheless, the fiends soon noticed the fresh meat and dived like hungry hawks hunting for rabbits.

"Will, turn that barrier on!" I yelled.

"I hope this will last," he murmured, his fingers pressing the appropriate buttons.

The I-gears ceaselessly fired against us with machine gun fire. The bullets were thin enough to make it through our protective barrier. While we still had some energy on our standard shields, the insane firing of the merciless A.N.I. began to whittle it down little by little. I soon realized that in a matter of seconds we would be bereft of our shields AND our barrier.

"Wilheim, we need to get out of here for real!" I cried.

"And go where?" he replied. "We cannot go back to the pad, for that would be to invite them to feast upon trainees. Tell me where to go: I am open for suggestions."

"Try to get away from them in the circle of stones."

"This is not an I-gear, Ryu! I cannot fly this thing like a fighter: it would crush our bodies with its weight!"

"Either we take our chances with the gravity, we use our Town Portal, or we stay here and get obliterated!" As I finished saying these words, an alarm went off, indicating us that we no longer had any protection other than our regular binder. A thick layer of steel was the only thing that separated us from a horde of missiles and bombs.

"God, grant me speed and wit," Wilheim silently prayed as he lifted off and followed my advice.

The roaring of the thrusters deafened all other sounds. Wilheim headed towards the rocky formation at full speed. Once there, he began to fly in circles, up and down, loops and u-turns... For one part, I never knew our friend could be so skilled with such a heavy vessel. I didn't even think Wilheim would be capable of driving a go-kart, for that matter. Luckily, he was a very capable pilot. Yet for the other part, the A-gear's weight was crushing us with every turn he took. It didn't take me long to realize that the best choice we could've taken was to use our Town Portal. I guess we were both stubborn enough not to see that, because even if Wilheim would've opted for that choice, I would've remained adamant to our first, bold decision. Whatever the case...

"This can't be good!" I wailed upon feeling my body ten times heavier than normal.

"Good... God!" Wilheim painfully muttered, yet his hands didn't go of the ship's controls. After all, the alarm that indicated that we were still targeted by missiles hadn't quieted down.

"Will, Ryu; you can't fly a ship as heavy as a pack of elephants like that!" Amouth stated.

"If they slow down, they'll get blown up by those missiles," Tricky said.

"Will, you've got to town it!" Balence yelled.

"I will not run..." Wilheim replied while performing a loop. The missiles were just getting closer and closer. Even his great flying techniques weren't enough to get us out of those speedy missiles' range.

"Will, perhaps we should consider..." I blurted, on the verge of losing my mind because of the pain that ran through my entire body.

"One wall of stone, that is all I ask!" my friend retorted in an exasperated yell.

The answer to his unexpected prayer came sooner than anyone would've anticipated. One of the enemies' missiles crashed against a boulder, bringing it down. Before it hit the ground, Wilheim managed to go right beneath it. The projectiles that followed us were blocked by the plummeting boulder. That saved us of the first round of volleys, but there were surely more to come...

As we made it safely to that stony bridge, we felt an extraordinary pull that nearly made us throw up our lungs (pardon the scatology). Wilheim ceased to have control of the ship's thrusters: Jazzy had come to our aid and had formed us on him and was now carrying us to where the battle was taking place. By the look of things they had already managed to get all of the trainees to safety. Now we were all fighting.

Despite this, the A.N.I. still outnumbered us two to one. We had managed to force some of their ships to retreat to their city, but they had also defeated some of our companions, too. And things were only getting worse.

Narue's I-gear had suffered heavy damage from DoubleEagle's relentless attacks. She had shot him a lot as well, but the two Goon M-gears – who we still hadn't managed to down – covered him quite well. Donald and Goofy were out of energy, and Jazzy and EvaRaine were quickly depleting all of their reserve power on repairing the rest of us.

I then saw a volley of missiles fly against Siegfried's ship. The projectiles hit their mark and the I-gear began to plummet. There was no doubt about it now: Siegfried would have to leave the battle field.

"Town it, Siegfried!" Yukunism said. "Our M-gears are out of juice!"

"I... I want to stay and fight!" Siegfried replied.

"You're no good to us if you're dead!" I yelled at him. "Use your Town Portal, now!!"

"Stop wasting your time and do it!!" Wilheim frantically wailed.

"..._Scheisse_!!" he cursed and immediately vanished from the field of battle.

"Blast it!" Wilheim roared and slammed the control panel with his fist. Luckily, his rage couldn't last for long. I suppose that, knowing that his brother was now safe, he immediately concentrated on the fight again and started to fire against our enemies once more.

"Jazzy, we're getting pummeled!" Sniperdog said. "We need that backup now!"

"I already sent the distress call," Jazzy answered. "We have to hold on until backup arrives."

"We're not going to survive much longer in these conditions," Akane observed.

"She's right, Jazzy," Apocalypse said. "We're going to have to retreat."

"I-gear behind me; someone give me a hand!" Ken yelled.

"Will, we've got to help him!" I said.

"I see him," my companion answered and began to shoot at the speedy fighter chasing after our friend. While he didn't hit it, the A-gear's shots were enough to cut his pursue. The enemy flew away and seeing that our fire wouldn't reach him, Wilheim focused his rage against the fiends that were still nearby.

"If we go, the Goons will kill any survivors," UpDaBut said. "No way in hell I'm letting that happen."

"UpDaBut, behind you!" Longtom warned.

The heads-up came too late, again. While UpDaBut had been concentrating in bringing down an I-gear that was running away from him, a B-gear flew behind him and bombed his ship. He started to fall like a poisoned fly.

"Son of a fucking bitch!!" he cursed. "I'm going to have to bail! Fuck!!" and so he left.

"Also, if we leave now, we let the Goons enter Bach Mountain Chain freely and they'll keep on killing kids," Eva said. "We have to stop them! We have to hold until reinforcements arrive."

"Let's go to the rocks: we stand more a chance there," DjFlaco suggested.

"I agree," Jazzy said. "Okay; everyone form a circle within the ring of rocks – try not to let the A.N.I. inside."

"Understood," we all replied and slowly made our way to the circle of rocks. Once there, we did as Jazzy told us and successfully kept most of the Goons at bay. However, their more powerful I-gears still made it inside the ring of stones and damaged our ships with their potent projectiles only to fly out of our firing range seconds later. Their two M-gears remained outside the circle where we couldn't aim at them and kept repairing the shields and armor of the speedy fighters that flew in and out of the boulder ring.

"If the B-gears start coming in, we're in big trouble," Sniperdog grumbled.

"Things are getting worse by the minute," Narue said. "If we don't' get that backup in five minutes, I say we retreat to Bach. We can camp the warp on the other side."

"But what about the survivors?" Eva asked.

"We wouldn't be able to help them either way."

"Hang on, guys... Ah, finally!!" Jazzy exclaimed. "It's about time you guys showed up!"

"Sorry for the delay, Jazzy," Pablosky's voice answered on the transmitters. "It took me a while to gather up some decent reinforcements."

"Were are you, guys?" asked Starsiege. I frantically searched the radar for their names, but they still were a bit too far away from us. At least our radios picked up their voices.

"We're inside the boulder ring, getting slaughtered by the freaking Goons," answered Longtom. "If you can, please take out Timeserv and SirStabsaLot: they're a real pain in the ass."

"Is DE here?" asked another of our comrades.

"Yes he is, Spazzy; and he's got those two idiots covering his butt," Jazzy replied.

"Oh, my God: there's a freaking bunch of them," a young boy said. "How the crap are we going to beat them?!"

"Garfungle, calm down," DjFlaco said. "Just get over here."

"Time to kick some A.N.I. ass!" a man with a grave tone said.

"It's good to have you here, FireFalcon," Narue said. "We're on a serious M-gear shortage."

"You want Timeserv and SirStabsaLot down? Let's bring them down," another voice added. "Tricky, leave the ring for a moment: I'll cover you."

"Okay, Supra," Tricky answered and cautiously flew away from us.

I looked at the radar once more and saw many new, friendly names approaching to our position: four of them Jazzy had mentioned earlier (FireFalcon, Spazzy, Starsiege, and Pablosky). There were four more B.C.U. soldiers: Garfungle and SupraBoy, who we had already listened through our transmitters, and two more who hadn't said a word. They were called Jusafing and Yopas. As they approached, I saw that FireFalcon, Spazzy, Garfungle, and Supra bore our colors, while Jusafing and Yopas belonged to Pablosky's brigade.

SupraBoy flew against the formations of the Goons fearlessly. The A.N.I. turned to him and unleashed their fire upon him. Projectiles, lasers, and bullets all crashed against his B-gear, yet he didn't steer away. His armor was so strong that he withstood all that punishment, made it to Timeserv's formation and released a volley of bombs upon him.

Before the Goons could utterly destroy SupraBoy and before SirStabsaLot could repair the damages our companion inflicted upon the M-gear, Tricky unleashed his titanic missiles upon Timeserv. The rest of our I-gears did their best to distract SirStabsaLot from repairing Timeserv. Upon seeing these new reinforcements, the Goons got confused and were unable to maintain us within the boulder ring much longer. We made our way out of it and slowly began to force them away.

"Excellent work, guys!" Jazzy cheered. "Just finish bringing Timeserv down, Tricky!"

"I'm almost done," Tricky replied. "Die already!!"

Seeing that his energy wouldn't suffice to repair the tremendous damage Tricky's missiles did, Timeserv opted, in a last desperate attempt to shoot at our I-gear. However, Tricky easily evaded the enemy's volleys and at long last forced him to vanish from the battlefield.

Just as this happened, the Goons turned away and began to fly towards the warp leading to Zaylope Beach. Naturally, we blindly began our pursuit, determined to push them out of B.C.U. territory once and for all. But when we reached the warp, our cheer turned to dismay...

"Oh, hell no!" Sora cried. "This has got to be a joke!"

"Yeah, and we're the laughing stock of those Goons!" Ken added.

"Turn back! Let's head back to the circle!" Jazzy ordered.

Without wasting a second, we burned our thrusters to their limit as a stampede of Goons raced at us. We had just barely managed to even the numbers... now we were outnumbered THREE to one. The idea of warping back to Bygeniou City became more and more attractive by the second, yet our resolve was to stay here and try to save as many trainees as we possibly could. If we could save ourselves first, that is...

The A.N.I. surrounded us once more and this time, they cut off all escape routes. The I-gears once again flew through the rocky rings and pummeled us with heavy missile fire. And this time, the enemy B-gears joined them in their attacks. Moreover, the Goons now had the backup of three more M-gears and five A-gears. The tanks landed on the ground and advanced steadily toward us, shooting at our M-gears with all they had. While most of our own B-gears were busy trying to stop the incoming fiends, Adrian and Jusafing kept attacking the tanks relentlessly. The foes turned on their impenetrable shields and relied on the support their M-gears provided. The only thing that could make it through that barrier were our own shots, apparently. I guess it was a flaw in the design of the special shield... Whatever the case, Longtom, Rhinoterox, Starsiege, and Wilheim were the only ones who could actually damage those heavy fighters.

I took a deep breath as Wilheim drove in front of one of the fiends and fired against him at point-blank. The enemy A-gear stopped shooting at our flying companions and his turret pointed at us. We became locked in an exchange of titan-bullets and speedy missiles. Wilheim turned up our barrier, but sadly, all special shields had the same flaw. That wouldn't have been too bad, if not for the fact that our opponent had thicker armor and more powerful weapons than us.

"Wilheim, he's tearing you apart!" Araya yelled. "Jusafing, try to distract that A-gear!"

"On my way!" Jusafing answered and flew to our aid. He knew no bombs of his would make it past that powerful barrier, so he relied on machine gun fire to try to divert our fiend's attention.

Yopas was the M-gear closest to us and the one who kept healing us during all that time. However, the A-gear also had some aid on his side. We weren't faring well. It was only a matter of minutes before he completely blew us up.

In my experience, I see there are two kinds of despair. The first is the one that fills your mind with panic. You can't think of anything other than running away to save your skin. Hysteria, screams, tears of fright... all the bundle. The second type is that which makes you realize that you're probably dead anyway. You get a massive adrenaline boost and think about doing all sorts of incredibly amazing stuff... incredibly stupid and suicidal, too. Well, guess what type of despair kicked in right then.

"Will, I need you to remove our barrier exactly when I say so!" I said.

"What the blazes are you talking about?" he asked.

"I'm going to get him out of that ship!" I answered.

"Have you gone daft?!" he bellowed. "You will be obliterated!"

"He's not giving us much of a choice, don't you think?! And tell Jusafing to stop shooting when I say so as well."

"...Our barrier will fade away soon anyway," Wilheim answered. I think he had also despaired and what was worse was the fact that he trusted me.

"One more reason to do this."

"Jusafing, halt your fire when I tell you to."

"Are you joking??" he yelled.

"Just do it! On my mark..."

I put my hand on the hatch's handle and looked at Wilheim. I gathered my courage and began to count down in my mind. Finally, I took a deep breath and yelled: "Now!"

"Stop shooting!!" Wilheim shouted and immediately powered down our shields.

I then opened up the hatch and leapt high into the air while our A-gear withstood the fiend's heavy punishment. The enemy saw me as I made my way through the air and aimed its immense turret at me. However, the heavy piece of machinery wasn't quick enough to keep up with me. I got to the hatch and forced it open. Upon doing this, I had to move aside, for the foe was waiting for me and had a gun in his hand. When he saw me, he naturally tried to blow my brains off. Nevertheless, I was once more faster than him. Once the projectile zipped past my head, I reached for his gun and took it away from him. Following that, I grabbed him by his jumpsuit and yanked him off his seat. I threw him to the ground and raced after him. He pulled a knife from one of his pockets and tried to stab me. I caught his arm and broke it with a quick twist; I then finished him off with three punches: one to the face, a second to the chest, and a third to the stomach; and finally, I delivered a powerful roundhouse to his face. That left him nearly unconscious. As incredible as it may seem, my desperate plan actually worked.

But then, I turned around and saw that a B-gear was flying low and was opening its bomb compartment, getting ready to blast us to nothingness. Wilheim put his A-gear before us and used the full power of the snaring device to manipulate the enemy tank and put it on the bombs' way. I grabbed the unconscious A.N.I. and took cover behind Wilheim.

The force of the blast made me fall on my nose. I saw a huge shadow on the ground and for a moment stopped breathing. A few seconds later, the soil shook as Wilheim's A-gear fell on it and then again when the enemy tank fell yards away. The enemy's ship was unable to withstand more punishment and exploded. Our own tank lay sideways and was smoking. I grabbed my foe by his jumpsuit again and dragged him along as I raced to Wilheim's aid.

"Will! Will!!" I called. If something had happened to him, I would never be able to forgive myself...

I got to the tank's hatch. Before I could tear it off, Wilheim slightly opened it and said from the ship's entrails: "I am all right. Step away from the cannon."

"What are you thinking...?" I muttered.

"Just move," he said. I nodded and hastily obeyed.

Once I was clear, Will placed the turret perpendicularly in relation to the tank and started to shoot. The force of the blasts caused the A-gear to reel back against a large stone which helped it to roll back to its natural position. With a relieved sigh, I ran to the hatch and practically stuffed our enemy inside, only to follow him afterwards.

"What is he doing here?" my companion asked.

"We can't just leave him out to die," I answered. "We must be honorable, even with our enemies."

"...Yes, I know," Wilheim murmured and concentrated on the fight once more.

It was not until then that I noticed a trail of blood on his head that ran down his cheekbone and fell on his jumpsuit.

"Will, you're hurt," I said in a low, worried voice.

"It is nothing," he retorted. "I know I will be sorry tomorrow, but in the mean time, I cannot worry about superficial wounds. My mind and my wit must remain in the battle, for the sake of our friends. I could never forgive myself should any of them fall."

"I understand..."

"Blast it... We are being targeted another bomber!" Wilheim yelled on the transmitter.

"Now can I help?" Jusafing asked.

"By all means!"

Both Araya and Jusafing swooped down against the enemy fighter and bombed him before he could get to us. The fiend's vessel caught fire and he tried to fly away. But unlike his companions, the A.N.I. was unable to fly away. A volley of missiles caught up with him and his B-gear exploded. The fragments of his ship fell here and there, leaving a trail of smoke and death behind them.

"Hell, yeah!" Sniperdog cheered. "That's one less Goon to worry about! Might as well as take them all with us!"

"Oh, my God..." Felicia murmured.

"Are you okay, Felicia?" asked Jazzy. "Hang on... We have to make it through this."

"...I fired that last volley..." the cat-woman limited herself to say.

"Oh, so you killed him? Good shot," Garfungle said. "I wish I were that lucky. I bet you're very happy, huh? No one kills a Goon that eas—"

"Garfungle, how about you shut up and keep helping out?" DjFlaco growled. The young boy was obviously oblivious to our poor friend's feelings.

Wilheim and I briefly glanced at each other and let out a sigh. No one made further comments on the matter.

The A.N.I. had lost one companion and that made them even more aggressive. The I-gears and B-gears swooped against us in much greater numbers. They were so angry, I think, that they no longer cared about using caution. They just wanted to see us dead.

All of a sudden, our radar caught up many signals. While Wilheim studied it, I looked to the skies and saw a – literally – swarm of ships headed our way.

"Oh, God..." I murmured. "Please tell me they're B.C.U..."

"...They are," Wilheim answered, almost unable to believe his own words.

"Bygeniou Air Force, drive them back," one pilot said. "Let's show them we're not messing around."

"Warrior Nation is here," another added. "Ready to kick ass."

"Vets are ready to slam them home," said a third.

"You sure took your sweet time!" Amouth angrily pointed out.

"We'll talk about this later, soldier!" scolded a fellow fighter. I recognized his voice... it had been MasterMenace. "Pilots, move out! Let's get these Goons!"

"Playing Mini-leader again, that bastard..." Apocalypse grumbled in the brigade's private channel.

Whatever the case, for my part, I was more than glad to see such a large fleet of ships coming to our aid. Upon seeing such a superior force, the A.N.I. took a few more shots and then turned tail and headed to the Zaylope warp. They still managed to take down a couple of B.C.U. pilots, but in the end, they all had to bail before they were demolished by our ships.

With a sigh of relief, I leaned back on my seat. Wilheim did the same and allowed the tank to recover a bit of its lost energy.

"For a moment, I did not think we would be able to survive," he stated.

"I know what you mean," I added.

At that moment, the A.N.I. grabbed my jumpsuit. I grabbed him and pressed him against one of the A-gear's walls. He was unable to defend himself, yet I wasn't willing to take the slightest risk.

"What are you waiting for?" he murmured after a few seconds. "Go ahead... kill me!"

"I'm not doing that," Ryu answered.

"We will let B.C.U. authorities deal with you, but we will not take justice in our own hands," Wilheim added.

"What sort of B.C.U. are you?" the foe questioned with disdain. "You're all goddamn killers. I thought you'd be thrilled to see an enemy die firsthand."

"Your thoughts are not ours," my friend retorted. "Hatred festers in your heart, yet the same is not true for our part."

"Guys, are you all okay?" a warrior asked through the communicator on the brigade's private channel. We let out a laugh of relief when we realized that had been Siegfried.

"We're fine," I answered. "It's good to see you back, Siegfried."

"We're all here," Gallager added. "It cost us a fortune to use both Town Portals and the Warp Shop, but we had to make sure you guys were all right."

"It sure is good to see you all here," Goofy said. "We were all worried about you."

"Good thing you guys had those Town Portals," Sora added.

"All B.C.U., report to the Blackburn Site pad, now!" commanded MasterMenace. We sighed and did what he said.

The pad was crowded of ships of most of B.C.U.'s brigades. It was really hard to find a... parking spot, so to speak. We exited the tank, while firmly holding the A.N.I. by the arms. I actually felt a bit sorry for him... We were practically going to throw him into a rabble of furious B.C.U. Well, for my part, I wasn't willing to let him suffer a horrendous humiliation, even if he did deserve it.

Once everyone was out of their ship, the B.C.U. broke up into two sides. Wulfpack, Pablosky's brigade, Starsiege's group, and some others were on one side, while MasterMenace, the Vets, some of the people from Bygeniou Air Force, and other pilots were on the opposite. Wilheim and I stood behind our friends, doing our best to hide the A.N.I. fighter from everyone's sight. When he noticed this, he looked at us with confusion and a glitter of small gratitude shone on his eyes.

"Very well," MasterMenace said, approaching Jazzy. "What the hell were you up to?"

"Us?" Jazzy muttered, puzzled by the question. "What do you mean?"

"We were doing your job, asshole!" Amouth intervened, unable to contain his fury. "Where the fuck were you during all this time?! I'm sure you got the S.O.S. transmission! At least one of you should've freaking gotten it!!"

"You will address me more respectfully when you talk, soldier!" MasterMenace replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you stupid piece of shit; I didn't mean to be disrespectful," Amouth sarcastically retorted. "It's just that, while you were busy jerking off, we were all fighting for our lives, doing our best to get the trainees out of here!!"

"Amouth, that's enough," Jazzy said and softly pushed Amouth back to the lines. "Well, he gave you the answer. We were trying to lead as many youngsters out of here as possible. Afterwards, we did our best to hold the Goons before they went to Bach Mountain Chain and kept killing more people."

"We all received the initial distress call," MasterMenace replied. "We were all doing more important stuff; like extracting minerals and nutrients from the Hornian Queen's body. Do you realize how difficult it is to find one of them these days? I'm sure even someone as obtuse as you will agree with me that our nation is in dire need of those minerals."

"But you just need a brigade to take that buzzer down!" Tricky claimed. "Two at the most! Not three fourths of the nation!"

"Come on!" interjected a young pilot with blue hair and eyes. "They were trainees! Who really gives a crap about them? We can always build more ships."

We were all taken aback by this abysmal statement. Well, not all of us... Because the worst part was that even some other pilots nodded in approval. I simply couldn't believe my ears and eyes. After a moment of silence, Longtom ventured to express our feelings with very simple words:

"You really do have shit for brains, Kaiser..."

"How can you even say something like that?" Sora asked.

"Be quiet, A.N.I. spy!" MasterMenace roared.

It was then that we all decided to step forth.

"Who are you calling a spy?!" Donald challenged.

"Didn't you see us getting pummeled by those Goons? You mean you're blind AND stupid?!" Ken added.

"We just fought against a whole legion of A.N.I.," Siegfried declared. "We risked our necks to try to save as many people as we could. And, despite all this, you still think we're spies? Well, then we must be retards, because we sure downed at least one A.N.I. per person."

"I will not allow you to talk to me like that!" MasterMenace shouted and reached for his weapon and then pointed it at Sora's head. Those who had weapons unsheathed them and the rest of us simply put ourselves on guard.

"Dude, put the gun down," Balence said as calmly as he could. "No one's going to hurt anyone."

MasterMenace hesitated for a second. Then, his eyes drifted away from Sora and focused on the defeated A.N.I. Wilheim and I had captured. His face was filled by fury and he instantly aimed the gun at the Goon's head.

"I knew you were spies!!" he roared. He did not ask for any explanation. Just like that, he pulled the trigger.

Neither Wilheim nor I were quick enough to manage to get the soldier out of the bullet's way. His body snapped back and fell lifelessly to the ground. I stared at him, unable to believe what that poor excuse of a pilot had just done. Never had I witnessed such arbitrariness. I felt my blood boiling inside my veins. Nevertheless, as much as I wanted to beat his body to the ground and then some more, I knew I had to do my best to keep a cold head. Our lives were truly on the line at that moment.

"Hiding A.N.I. fellows behind your backs, are you?!" he demanded.

"That man was a prisoner!" Wilheim answered, his voice filled by anger. "You had no right to deprive him of his life so blatantly!"

"The A.N.I. deserve no mercy, and neither do spies!" MasterMenace mused and then pointed at Wilheim.

Again, everyone raised their guns, just waiting for an excuse to fire against anyone they considered an enemy.

"Your stubbornness hardens your already putrid heart even more," Wilheim hissed. "We fought for you: my brother nearly died protecting the young pilots you so unashamedly flout, and yet you dare call us spies? It makes me wonder if you are not in league with the Heartless, for you lack all sense of humanity and comradeship. I would not be surprised to find the emblem of the broken heart somewhere on your skin."

"What the hell are you talking about, scoundrel?" he defied. Nonetheless, Wilheim had managed to get everyone to lay suspicious eyes upon him. "What are you all looking at? They're the freaking A.N.I. spies and they must be shot right now!"

"MasterMenace, they did help," said a young man.

"Let's put it this way: do you think we're spies?" Balence asked.

"You're all idiots, if you ask me," Kaiser said, while shrugging.

"No one's asking you, asshole," DjFlaco snapped.

"There are some guys here that don't like you – I don't include myself – but I think we can all agree that we don't think the Wulfpack are spies," said the pilot who had spoken earlier.

"In that case, if they were indeed spies, they would've killed us. They had the perfect chance to do that, with all those Goons flying around," Balence went on.

"He's got a point..." murmured another.

"All right!" MasterMenace finally yielded (at least in that subject). "Suppose they're not spies. They still have no right to talk to me the way they did: I'm their superior!"

"You're not leader or anything close to it, MasterMenace," scolded a bearded man. "You would have some authority if you were with the Bygeniou Air Force. We are in charge here; so you better watch what you say."

"You're poor leaders!" MasterMenace retorted. "You only fight whenever you're sure you'll have an easy victory. You leave all the hard battles to the rest of us, cowards!"

"MasterMenace, do yourself a favor and look up 'irony' in the dictionary," Ken said.

"I will not tolerate any more disrespects from you!"

"Want to settle it with a fist fight? Let's go: you can get some of your lackeys to help you if you want – I'm not afraid."

"Ken, stop it," I said.

"I will teach you a lesson!" MasterMenace bellowed and threw himself at my friend (fortunately he had already dropped his gun, although I doubt it would've made much difference). Ken easily evaded his straight punch and counterattack with a simple, yet powerful combination of turning kicks, one at his opponent's face and the other one to the side of the stomach. MasterMenace fell on his back, groaning in pain, while Ken let out a long shout.

"That sure felt good!" he said. "Man... I should've done this a long time ago!"

"You... you will pay...!" the cocky pilot grumbled. More than his body, it was his pride that which was hurt.

"You want another go, wart? I'll give you some quality pounding next time, you hear?"

"Ken, how about you quiet down?" I said, pulling him by his shoulder. "You're making things worse."

Before he could answer me, a man made his way through the crowd and stood between both sides. He had long, orange hair with white trails; he had the same complexion as Jazzy, and had big, green eyes. When he appeared, the uproar that Ken's little number had stirred ceased.

"Milky, these men should be punished," MasterMenace at last said, pointing at us. "They stroke me down."

"Knowing you, I'm sure they had a good reason to do that," B.C.U.'s leader dryly replied. "Either way, I don't want more fights while I'm around."

"About time you showed up," Amouth said. His words were brash, but there was much less rage in his voice and that didn't make things worse. "We called for help for half-an-hour. Half-an-hour! We were hell-a lucky the Goons didn't muster their entire forces. Otherwise, we would've ended up like craters in the ground."

"True. But you see, not every brigade is guilty for being late purposely," Milky clarified. "We've been having trouble with the communications, so not all of us got your distress call."

"Whatever; we sure would've appreciated to see those who did here," SupraBoy mumbled.

"Let's not make matters worse. That's enough drama for today," Milky said. "Contact the telecommunications engineers and have them fix our little problem A.S.A.P.," he told one of the pilots from Bygeniou Air Force. He nodded and left immediately. "It's been a while since the A.N.I. made an attack of this sort. We'll have to investigate. Until further notice, Blackburn Site will be off limits to trainees, juniors, airmen, and wingmen. I want two brigades to stand guard by the Zaylope warp; and I need volunteers to search for survivors and gather the dead."

"We'll stay," Jazzy said.

"You've done enough. You should go back to your headquarters."

"I think it's fair we get a chance to help out the survivors we saved... if there are indeed any."

"Do what you wish, then," Milky muttered with a shrug. "Very well. Move out, people."

Most pilots hopped back on their ships and went back to the Bach Mountain Chain warp. Pablosky and his brigade volunteered to keep guard on the Zaylope gate, along with Starsiege. Another group joined them in their endeavor, while we searched for survivors. It would be difficult to find a breath of life in that land ravaged by fire and smoke...

Felicia and I decided that we had flown enough for one day and slowly walked beside Wilheim's A-gear as he drove through the rocky ground, his eyes fixed on the trails of smoke the downed ships gave off. The cat-woman was seemingly devastated. I wasn't sure of what to say to her... Once again, it had become my job to cheer a friend up, even though I've always thought I'm not the proper person for those sorts of things (and strangely enough, I always manage to put my grain of sand).

"It's not your fault, Felicia," I murmured in a soft, comforting voice.

"I feel sick, Ryu," she mumbled in a heartbroken tone.

"It was us or them. There was nothing you could do about it."

"I could've held my fire..."

"You had no way of knowing," I insisted, putting my hand on her trembling shoulder.

"Ryu, I... I had never killed anyone," Felicia answered, tears assaulting her devastated eyes. "I mean, I've beaten lots of Heartless and some evil monsters... But I had never killed a human being. I... You know... I've..." She suddenly stopped and covered her face with her paws. Her body shook as she sobbed repeatedly. "I'm so sorry..." she at last managed to utter. "God, forgive me..."

"Don't blame yourself, please," I mused and hugged her. "You're a good person, Felicia; perhaps the best of our group. But you have to understand that this is war, and people will unavoidably die... There was no way of knowing that would happen. Don't punish yourself like this."

True that was... We were in a war and no matter what, there would always be casualties. But like Felicia had said before, we were not fighting against Heartless or necessarily evil creatures. We were fighting against men. It was clear to me that our innocent friend wasn't ready to take on this sort of responsibility. And now that I thought about it, I wasn't sure if some of our other companions would be able to handle the killing of another human being.

"O-okay..." she softly stuttered. She stepped away and dried her tears. With a snivel, she added: "I don't feel like walking, but I don't want to fly, either."

"There's an open seat on Will's A-gear. If you want, he can give you a ride," I suggested.

She nodded her head silently without taking her eyes off the ground. I caught up with Wilheim and asked him to stop. I climbed on board and waited for him to open the hatch and pop out his head.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Felicia needs to sit down a bit," I explained. "She's not feeling very well..."

"Say no more, I understand," he murmured. He turned to Felicia and beckoned her. The cat-woman climbed on the tank and Wilheim gently helped her inside. "Rest a bit, Felicia. You do not have to talk if you do not feel like it."

"No... Thanks, Wilheim," she replied. "It's just that I really don't feel like doing anything right now."

"You need not give me explanations. I know the pain that you feel right now."

She nodded and sat down. Wilheim patted my shoulder and then closed the tank's hatch, returning to his seat.

With a sigh, I kept walking beside the A-gear. We stayed there for many hours. In the end, the frantic search only yielded three survivors. It was quite relieving to see that the A.N.I. had not killed every last one of those young pilots. Yet, considering that a total of fifty-three ships had been destroyed, our finds didn't find the least trace of happiness that day. And let's not forget that the rest of our friends still remained lost...


	12. Chapter 11: Bloody Omens

Chapter Eleven: Bloody Omens

_Chapter Eleven: Bloody Omens_

_Narrator: Baiken_

"MOM!!"

My own scream woke me up in the middle of the night. Luckily, I didn't wake up anybody else. My guess is that they were all still too tired from the hunt. Heck, even I had become a bit weary, and I had just sat on my ass behind Octavius all day. Boredom can wear you out a lot, believe me.

It was a good thing that all of them were still sleeping, because I didn't feel like telling anyone to go fuck themselves should they ask me what had happened. I wasn't in the mood to tell anyone about my dream... That awful dream that haunted me almost every shitty night. And if you wake up like I did – with the bejesus scared out of you – then, if someone else is with you, they always, inescapably ask what's wrong. During all my life, I had never once felt like telling anybody about it. Ukyo and Wilheim were the only ones I had personally told about my past. Don't ask me why I did it: somehow, I felt somewhat good doing that.

Anyway, I digress. Seeing that not one of them had even blinked (I could only hope that they weren't like that in case of a real emergency), I decided to go for a glass of water. Once I quenched my thirst, I figured I should go to the nearby bar and have a drink and a smoke. It was not like they would miss me if I didn't sleep beside them, anyway.

I exited the headquarters and headed for the bar. I could only hope they had sake in that place. Besides, I could use a bit extra to refill my bottle. I had already drunk every last drop. It only lasted me through the journey from the Coliseum to that place. Thank goodness I hadn't been on the same ship as that fuck, Adrian. If that had been the case, I would've ended with my alcohol supplies in half a day, and then I would've been forced to either kill him or cut out his tongue. I've met clowns back in the day, but none of them was half as exasperating as that piece of shit.

I'm rambling again. Whatever the case, I had to get my mind off that horrible dream. So, I entered the bar, sat down and waved at the bar tender.

"Isn't a little bit late in the middle of the night to have a drink?" he asked as he walked towards me.

"Are you still working?" I questioned back.

"Well, yeah—"

"Then it's none of your business," I interrupted harshly. "Do you have any _Nihonshu_?"

"...What?" he blurted. Yeah, that was my bad, actually. I forgot I was no longer on Earth for a moment.

"Sake... Alcohol made from rice?"

"...No, nothing like that."

"Shit," I muttered to myself. "Figures... All right, so what DO you have?"

"Beer, Whisky, Tequila, Vodka..." he listed. Funny thing, huh? I wasn't on Earth, but, aside from the sake, they had a lot of the things we have. Even with the same names... Don't ask me why: I really didn't give a crap about it, so I didn't delve into it.

"Tequila, then," I said.

The man grabbed a bottle and quickly served me a shot. I gave a small zip and then pulled out my pipe and started to puff on it. Looking at one of the clocks, I saw that it was four o'clock in the morning. That meant that the guys would be awake in three hours, if their alarm clocks actually woke them up, that is. Besides, it wasn't like I was going to get much sleep, anyway.

"Fancy meeting you here," called a voice behind me. I turned about and saw Twist. So much for my special time all by myself... Oh, well; as long as he didn't ask why I was there at that time. He took a seat beside me. He looked at my pipe and smiled. "So, you're victim of that vice, too, huh?"

"You smoke?" I asked.

"Not a pipe, but I do have a weakness for these," he answered and reached for a pack of cigarettes. He took one, put it in his mouth, and lit it with a match. "Yep: sadly, they taste so good... And it's not like I smoke when we're flying, you know. I don't want my ship to smell like tobacco. I would have the stink on me forever," he added, with a chuckle. "What about you? Did you smoke while you were flying?"

"Octavius didn't mind," I replied.

"I see," he laughed. "So, how did it happen?"

"What happened?"

"Your eye and your arm..." he said.

That was the fifth time someone asked me about my scar and lack of extremity. Ryoga was a dumb fuck, so I was very rude to him; when Jam asked me, we had gone through a lot – hence I decided to spare the curses and simply tell her it was none of her goddamn business; Adrian was the must annoying fucker on the face of any of the worlds and because of that I thought about widening his scar (not that it would work, since he's a vampire, but it sure would've felt wonderful); like I said, Ukyo and Wilheim were the only folks I'd told what had really happened, but I was not that close to Twist. Despite that, I didn't dislike him, so I only limited myself to say:

"It's personal."

"Oh, okay. I'm sorry..." he hastily apologized.

"No problem."

"No, really, it's none of my business. I shouldn't be treating you as if I were one of your long-time friends." That was only half-truth.

"I've only known them for three weeks," I clarified.

"Really? I thought you went way back... I mean, seeing how you and Ukyo talk to each other..."

"To tell you the truth, I actually can't stomach most of them." I made a brief pause and then added: "Ukyo's fine, though. She's a good girl. And I have nothing against Leon or Octavius."

"...Oh," he muttered. "...So, why do you hang around them?"

"Remember the Heartless problem we told you about? Well, I want to end with that as soon as possible. That's the only way I'll be able to do what I want."

"Ah, I understand..." he said. I noticed he was beginning to get uncomfortable, yet he didn't stop talking because of that. I think he thought things would get better if I confessed, or something like that. "What about your missing friends? Did you meet them three weeks ago, as well?"

"Yes."

"And are you worried about them?"

Hey, I might be cold and vindictive and rude, but I had – amazingly, some might say – developed some feelings towards some of my companions, like I've said.

"I'm a little concerned about one or two," I answered. "But I'm sure they'll be fine. They're strong fellows. They can take care of themselves."

"That's good to know, with all those B.C.U. about..." he mumbled and asked the bar tender for a beer.

"How long have you been in Tactical Aggression?" I asked. I didn't feel like talking about my companions at the moment.

"Since its conception," he replied proudly. "It's been... four years, if my memory doesn't fail me."

"That's when you started warring?"

"No; I was an I-gear pilot before that. I was in another brigade."

"What happened, then?"

He remained quiet for a moment before letting out a sigh and replying with a shy smile: "It's personal."

"I see," I said and took a zip of my drink.

"So, is Octavius a good pilot?" he promptly asked.

"I didn't puke, if that's what you're asking," I answered.

He chuckled and shook his head.

"I guess that's good enough." He puffed the last bit of what was left of his cigarette and then put it out. "What are you doing here by yourself so late at night, anyways?"

Fuck. Just the question I didn't want to answer. Why didn't he just stay quiet? Why is it that people always feel the need to speak to someone they've just met, no matter what? Why can't they just freaking settle for a stupid moment of peaceful silence? Shit... I wouldn't have minded it the least if he would've just stayed there and smoke his cigarette without even turning to look at me.

I was about to repeat that it was a personal matter (this time not so calmly), when his cell-phone rang all of a sudden. He hastily picked up and turned his back on me for a moment. That'd give me a bit more time to calm down, at least.

"Twist here," he said. "Oh, hi, Mai—what?? Where are they? All the way over there? How long have they been there?" There was a brief pause and then he exclaimed, stomping his foot on the ground: "Shit! Okay, we're on our way." He hung up and turned to me. "We've got trouble. There are B.C.U. in Relic. They're killing pilots in training and they're gunning down Shrine."

"What the hell is Shrine?" I asked.

"I'll explain it on the way. Right now, we've got to leave!" That phone call might've actually saved our companionship. I took the last zip of Tequila and then raced behind him to the hangar.

Every one of my companions was already awake, suited up, and ready to take off. The roaring of the engines almost deafened the voices of the pilots as they tried to plan a last-minute strategy. If all went well, maybe I could prove to be a bit useful. I mean, I don't know how to even ride a freaking bicycle, but I'm not a bad strategist, I think.

Maici was discussing the final details with the TA members. My companions were there, as well. I approached them and noticed that ShabelleTiger, Mosfet, and some other men and women (apparently from their own brigades) were there. I approached my flight companion and asked in a low voice:

"What's going on?"

"The B.C.U. are attacking," he replied in a whisper. "The people in Relic need help. Many of the nation's pilots are on other sorts of duties, so we will have to rely in a small opposing force."

"What are our chances?" I questioned.

"We will most likely be outnumbered two to one, if luck is on our side," he replied. "Now, be silent. I want to be sure of what to do when the time comes."

"The Vets and TS are laying siege on both warps," Maici announced. "That means that if there's any pilot in Bark that tries to come back through the Den A warp, they will be blown up. The question is, how do we break the camps?"

"How about we send a group of invisible B-gears?" suggested a young pilot.

"They've got M-gears with them," Ziggy pointed out. "They'll detect any invisible ships in the blink of an eye, and then they'll blow them up into itty-bitty pieces. That's not an option."

"If we all rush together, would it work?" asked ShabelleTiger. "Or would it turn out to be a pretty show of fireworks?"

"The latter, for sure," BlackMercy said. "Now, I'm not an A-gear expert, but maybe if they turned their barriers on and then went through the warp they could create enough distraction for the rest of us to come through."

"Again, fireworks," Mosfet answered. "According to our information, there are a large number of A-gears and twice as many B-gears. Our barriers would only protect us from two collective volleys before breaking down, at the best. And I'm just talking about those of us who have managed to tune them up."

"Hey, what did we miss?" asked a pilot who had just gotten there, along with his companions. It was that WhiteHawkOne prick. Jeez, I couldn't stand even looking at him. Man, if he just as much as dared to breath in my direction, I would open a can of whoop-ass on his freaking head. At least he still had a bandage on his nose, which sort of cheered me up. "What's the situation?"

"Vets and TS are wreaking havoc on Relic," Siachen replied. "And they've taken over both warps. Many formations are preventing pilots from going in or out."

"Well, I say we charge with a huge force," WhiteHawkOne calmly said while shrugging.

"We've been through that already," Ziggy said, while rolling his eyes. "There will be a lot of casualties if we take that approach."

"So what? Sometimes we have to make great sacrifices."

"Why do I sense that that 'we' doesn't involve you?" Tek asked, glaring at the prick.

"You need good pilots to kick those bastards out of Relic, don't you?" he shamelessly retorted.

"So, your great strategy revolves around sending other pilots to their deaths just so you can have your moment of glory?" Leon growled. "You know, if we would do something like that, I would force you to be the first one to fly through, see how you like it."

"Who the fuck is this guy?" asked one of the prick's companions. "You really have no idea of who we are, right?"

"To be quite frank, I don't give a damn," Leon said. What a great answer: I think Leon was one of our smartest companions.

"Earl, I'd shut my mouth if I were you," warned Honrar. "Stop messing with us."

"Whatever," the pilot scoffed and looked away.

"TA's been recruiting some weird idiots lately," WhiteHawkOne chuckled. "The other day I saw a handicap that was missing an eye and arm around the hangar wearing a jacket with TA's logo on it. What kind of an idiot recruits a useless wimp like that?"

"That 'useless wimp' broke your nose with a simple flick of a wrist, asshole," I immediately responded. He didn't know I was there: when he heard my voice and realized he had messed up, he turned pale for an instant and then searched for me with his eyes. When he found me at last, I kept on speaking. "What's the matter, White-Fuck-One? Can't you handle a handicap?"

Before things could get uglier, Maici clapped her hands loudly and called out to the pilots:

"Stop arguing amongst yourselves! There's no time for nation drama: we can always tune into that channel later. Right now, we've got to get rid of those B.C.U., and we need a better plan than just rushing blindly out of the warp."

"Well, if you're all too scared about doing that..." WhiteHawkOne said, forgetting about me, regaining his idiotic confidence. "We can always wait for the B.C.U. at the Valley of Doleful Melody, or we can ask the Goons or LND for help."

"Please..." Djneff grumbled. "Regarding the Goons, there are two things: one: they only fight for themselves, not for A.N.I. And two: they're on their way to raid Black Burn Site."

"Same for LND," Zephyr added. "They couldn't care less about the nation, even though they're the leading brigade. And even if they did help, they're on the moon right now, on Denebola; it'll take us too long to establish decent communication between them."

"As for waiting for the B.C.U. in Doleful, that's out of the question," Maici said. "We want to save our comrades, not abandon them; more the reason to think of a good plan A.S.A.P."

"Okay, that's true," WhiteHawkOne admitted. "Whatever the case, unless you guys think of a brilliant plan that doesn't involve risking our necks, you can count me out."

"By the way in which you've been behaving, I guess we can count you out on this and on everything," Ryoga said. Finally, something smart came out of his damn mouth.

"Hey, Ziggy, keep a leash on your freaking rookies," Earl jeered. "They're beginning to get quite annoying."

"Why don't you shut up and start doing some thinking for a change?" Ukyo challenged. "It doesn't seem that you're too concerned about your companions. You do understand that people are dying as we argue? In fact, what the hell am I doing talking to you? We need to come up with a plan now."

"What a bimbo," WhiteHawkOne scoffed.

"What did you call her?!" Ranma roared. My companions began to walk menacingly towards the Kill-on-sight clowns; chaos began to break loose as they all started to call each other all sorts of names. For my part, I was seconds away from going up to WhiteHawkOne and break his nose again... Most probably just for the heck of it.

"Everyone, stop it!" Twist called. "You can all punch out each others' lights later, okay?! Right now, we've got a mission! Focus!"

Believe it or not, during all that time, I had been analyzing what everyone had said about the gears' strengths and weaknesses. It was obvious that we would have to do our best to get into that horrible place through one of the Warps. One type of gear alone obviously wouldn't stand a chance against the formations. But...

"I've thought of something," I said, before more mayhem took place.

"Thank God..." Mosfet muttered to himself. "All right, we're listening."

"You said A-gears would be able to withstand some fire from the enemy ships, right?" I questioned him.

"Barely... two collective volleys of Bawoos means we would last ten seconds, and I'm being way positive on that statement."

"Okay, and the B-gears can turn invisible, correct?"

"Yes, but the M-gears would easily discover us," Maici said.

"And the I-gears can fly like bats out of hell, right?" I went on, not minding the retorts of my companions.

"...I'm confused. What's your point?" Siachen questioned.

"I'm saying we use all of that," I answered.

"We just went through that," Ryoga replied. "If we all go together, we'll—"

"Would you shut the f—!" I started to yell, yet then I remembered that time was short. Just for once, I controlled my self by taking a deep breath and then by saying: "Would you let me finish?" Shocked by my reaction Ryoga only managed to nod in silence. "Okay... Like I was saying, let's use all of that. A-gears start the attack: they'll distract the formation long enough for I-gears to fly through the warp at full speed: the enemy will chase them. Those who remain laying siege on the warp will finally be destroyed by invisible B-gears – they will be accompanied by our M-gears. These guys will repair the A-gears and will serve as decoy. The B.C.U. will overlook the Invisible B-gears and then we can blow them up with a bunch of bombs."

They remained quiet for a few moments, looking at each other, waiting to see if there was anyone out there with a better idea or with a 'but' in his mouth. Luckily, my strategy convinced them.

"Sounds like a great plan," Maici said. "Risky, but very good. However, if we're going up against the B.C.U., it'll be dangerous either way. The A-gears will be risking their necks the most... If you don't think you'll be able to wait for the M-gears, use your Town Portals without a second thought. Sadly, we're going to have to play heroes here, yet there's no need to waste your lives uselessly."

"What do you know? The handicap may not have the eye and arm, but she actually has a brain," WhiteHawkOne chuckled, most amused by his stupid joke.

I was about to cut something off him, this time for real, when Kuradoberi turned to him and threatened: "WhiteHawkOne, you're this close. THIS close," she emphasized, making a gesture with her hand.

"For the last time, enough," ShabelleTiger said. "We've wasted enough time here: we need to get to Relic right now. Let's get on our ships!" and so everyone was dismissed and they began to board their gears.

Before getting on our A-gear, however, I needed to do something really quick.

"Did my ears deceive me?" I asked Jam, walking towards her. "Did Marmalade Jam actually stand up for me? Why, I wonder, would she do such a thing?"

"Shut up," she grumbled. "I just can't stand that ass."

"We're not friends, Kuradoberi. Let that be clear to you."

"You know, a 'thanks' would've sufficed, jerk," she groaned and hurried to her ship.

Octavius boarded the tank. It was time to take off. I leaped into the ship and strapped on the seatbelt. The A-gear roared as the pilot steadily directed it to the warp shop. Our next destination was the Valley of Doleful Memory. We would coordinate our strike from there...

We were received by a barren land, riddled with hostile vessels. We didn't care too much about them: they were weaklings and we hastily destroyed those that crossed our paths. There were some missile turrets installed here and there and some fired against us, but the B-gears quickly took them down before they could cause real harm. All that while I kept my eyes on the radar, looking for any B.C.U. ships. Fortunately, there were none around.

The ships formed around the warp to Relic. There, we all remained still, waiting for the brigades' leaders' signal. The tanks would be the first to go into the battlefield – that meant I was soon going to watch some serious shit. I could only hope that Octavius was skilled enough not to get us killed. As long as we did our part and lived to tell the tale...

"A-gears stand by for turning on your barriers," Maici said.

"Everyone, follow my lead," Mosfet ordered. "Remember, go straight to the ground and land as close as you can to enemy A-gears. That'll prevent their bombers from unloading every freaking piece of projectile they possess on us."

"Unless they're like WhiteHawkOne and don't give a fuck about their companions," I muttered to Octavius in a low voice.

"If that is the case, then we will still get rid of enemies," the were-bear replied. "Yet they will not be the only ones to taste the steel of the Grim Reaper's blade."

"On my mark... go through the warp immediately afterwards. We all want your shields to stay on as long as possible," Maici said.

"Good luck, guys... Please be safe," Ukyo added.

"I'm not in the mood of dying today, so don't screw up, were-bear," I told Octavius.

"Be at ease, woman. I too care for my life and I will not waste it," he dryly replied.

"Three... two... one... GO!!" Maici yelled.

"Shields up!!" Mosfet ordered. A blue barrier surrounded our A-gear as Octavius lifted up and followed the group of tanks that flew through the warp.

We were immediately transported to a field which housed a wide variety of exotic, huge plants and fungi. It seemed like a place taken from a Lewis Carroll tale... something you would see if you were high on drugs, to be more specific. There was an immense pillar with many rays surrounding it to the south of the warp. Of course, I couldn't appreciate the landscape very much, since were greeted by a rain of freaking fire and missiles. Though most of the enemy's fire didn't harm us, the A-gear shook as if it was being hit by a tsunami. And since I didn't have any sort of control over the situation, I sort of began to freak out.

"What the fuck?!" I yelled. "Fuck-damn it! Land the fucking tank! Land, land, land!!"

"Be quiet!!" the were-bear roared as he did his best to fly through the bullets and bombs and land near our companions.

The siege was hideously powerful. They easily doubled our numbers. And I'm talking about our entire force: A-gears merely constituted twenty percent of our army at that moment (at the best). We were punished by a rain of bullets, lasers, missiles, and bombs. Our alarms went off right after we crossed the gate and didn't stop sounding for a single freaking second. I felt as if I had put on a dress made out of meat and had started to prance around four packs of lions.

"Ten seconds..." Octavius murmured to himself while directing the tank's turret, pointing it at one of the B-gears that was bombing the living shit out of us.

I turned to see the rest of the A-gears and saw that their barriers were fading. I noticed two of them were retards and didn't follow Maici's advice: thinking that they would miraculously be saved, they stayed on their butts and kept on firing against the B.C.U. despite the fact that their shields had worn off. Half a second later, their ships exploded. I swear I even saw their burnt bodies fall alongside the broken pieces...

The rest of us held on, hoping that our barriers would be strong enough to keep us alive for just a few more seconds. I didn't expect with do much good. Actually, I was beginning to think that my fine idea had just meant the willing suicide of our little group. But amazingly, as I paid closer attention to our enemies, I noticed that a considerable number of enemy ships were abandoning the battlefield. They surely used their Town Portals. At least that's what I wanted to think at that moment.

Despite our decent performance, our shields were just one second from fading, which meant that we had about three seconds of life left. Afterwards, it would be death or retreat.

"Barrier gone!!" yelled all of the A-gear pilots. The desperate cry echoed on our communicator many times.

At that moment, the group of I-gears emerged from the warp. They fired a single blast against the B.C.U., forcing more of them to retreat, and then they flew as fast as they could away from the camp. Many an opponent fell for the trap: they turned their gears around and ignited their boosters, aiming to catch up with our fighters to terminate them.

"Great, guys! We've got them on the run!" Zephyr enthusiastically exclaimed.

"Damn, there's so many of them!" yelled Leon.

"Don't worry! It seems Baiken's plan will work out fine!" retorted ShabelleTiger.

"As long as we keep them away from the A-gears, it should do the trick," Twist added.

"Ready whenever you are, Maici!" Mosfet groaned while he and the other A-gears kept firing against the ships that had stayed behind, determined to destroy our force. A lot of tanks were forced to use their Town Portals. In the end, out of fifteen tanks that had begun the attack, only five of us remained: Tek, Djneff, Honrar, Mosfet, and ourselves. Mostly, I was astonished that Mosfet was still with us, since the enemy had especially targeted him. His tank was already smoking, though; it was evident that he would only be able to withstand a couple more rounds of bombs before blowing up.

Yet help immediately arrived. Led by Ziggy, the M-gears entered the battlefield and without losing a moment, they started to repair our gears. The enemy hastily switched targets, making the... 'Physician' ships their top priority.

"Holy...!" Ranma cried. "What's wrong with these guys?! There's so many of them!"

"Don't be intimidated by their numbers. Just concentrate on repairing our friends' ships!" Cayenne said.

"Maici, it's your turn," Ziggy said.

Like I had suspected, the B.C.U. had become so busy in trying to kill our M-gears that their own ships failed to scan the surroundings. Our B-gears infiltrated their formations with great ease and appeared right on their noses. Before any of them could react, they swallowed a whole load of bombs. The more experienced B-gear pilots defeated their enemies with a single volley. However, others weren't that lucky. For her part, Ukyo had to fly away from her target and evade its fire. She was hit by a few missiles, but in the end managed to get on the enemy's face and bomb him until he surrendered. Once that was done, she and Maici took on an A-gear which hadn't stopped bothering us since we had gotten there. The tank turned up his barrier, yet was unable to withstand the combined fire of our A-gear and the power of two B-gears. He used his Town Portal shortly after that.

"Are you guys okay?" calmly asked Ukyo. The siege had been brought down.

"We are well," replied Octavius. "Thank you for your timely help. We would not have been able to stand our ground against that A-gear much longer."

"You guys are lucky he wasn't a more experienced pilot," Maici said. "You can't just stand still when you're on an A-gear vs. A-gear fight. Try to circle your opponent..."

"The battle hints will have to wait, Maici," Siachen intervened. "We could use your help around here. There's a lot more B.C.U. to the south."

"I reckon they're not that much, now that we've destroyed their camp..." Sakura guessed.

"That was just the tip of the iceberg!" Jam cried. "Get over here and help us out!"

"All right, guys, follow my lead!" Maici ordered and steadily flew towards the battle with the rest of us watching over her back.

"We've already lost seven I-gears!" BlackMercy yelled. "We surely could use some reinforce— Damn it! They weren't even going to hit him!!"

"What happened?" asked Ziggy with concern.

"WhiteHawkOne towned!" BlackMercy answered. "There's no time to be pulling those stunts!"

"Calm down, Jerry," Maici said. "We'll be with you in a second. We'll distract them: in the mean time, look for survivors and find Shrine. We can't let the B.C.U. take the materials home."

"There'll always be another Shrine, Maici," Twist declared. "Right now we should help the pilots in training."

"It'll be much better if we try to do both things. We can't afford more enemies with upgraded armors and weapons. It's better if we have them... Get Shrine. And shake Mr. Nice off you, Twist, he's catching up with you!"

"Shit, I hadn't seen him!!"

I then saw how Twist's I-gear flew like a bat out of hell through the skies, breaking the sound barrier, with the enemy close behind. Twist rolled and flew up and down at full speed, evading missiles time and again. The enemy wasn't willing to let him get away. Octavius tried to hit him with our cannon's fire, but they were simply too fast for the were-bear to get a lock-on. I guess he still had a lot of training to do.

"Blast their speed. I feel as if I were shooting at a hawk with a slingshot," my companion grumbled.

"In that case, find a slower target. Do something useful, will ya?" I said.

"You really are pushing your luck, woman," he replied and glared at me for an instant.

"Eyes on the road," I answered with a sardonic smile, yet my smirk immediately faded. I had just acted like the idiot Adrian...

"Help's on the way, BlackMercy!" Jam announced. "I'm coming over to help you!"

"Be careful, Jam! That fellow is a beast!" warned Siachen.

"Don't worry, Siachen: I'm a beast, too!"

'At hand-to-hand combat, maybe,' I thought to myself. 'But at flying...'

"Jam, look out! Mr. Nice is going after you!" Twist yelled.

"Oh, no!!" Jam cried as a gargantuan volley of missiles flew her way. She managed to evade some of them, but she was inevitably hit by many. Her ship became a smoking projectile that began to fall at a deadly speed.

Luckily for her, Ryoga, Ranma, and Sakura were near. Their boosters lit up and they caught Jam's ship just seconds before it crashed into the soil. They repaired her I-gear in the blink of an eye. But not all was safe: it seemed that Mr. Nice had a taste for newbie blood. When he saw our companions helping Jam, he completely forgot about his former victim and launched an attack against our rookie comrades.

"Dang it, Ranma! Roll!!" Ryoga pressed.

"We won't be able to evade all of them!" Ranma replied.

Boom. Just like Ranma had suspected, their M-gear was hit by a full volley. And Mr. Nice was still closing in...

Our companions fired against him desperately. However, the fiend easily evaded their missile fire, and those that did get him merely scratched his ship. Seeing their predicament, Octavius chose to lend them a hand. He landed near their position and commenced fire against Mr. Nice. Once again, he miserably failed at almost every attempt.

"Did you leave your glasses at the Headquarters?!" I growled, frustrated to see that he didn't seem to be doing anything right.

"For the last time, stop speaking!" he roared.

"I would, if you actually hit something!"

To make matters worse, Mr. Nice spotted another newbie pilot. Guess who that was...

"He's going after you, Octavius!" Sakura warned. "Get away from him!"

"Turn your barrier on!"

"We have no energy left..." the were-bear muttered.

"Oh, shit..." I murmured the moment I saw the B.C.U. getting ready to fire off a volley against our already weakened tank.

But thankfully, another of our companions hadn't been spotted by the enemy. Before Mr. Nice could successfully fire his projectiles, Ukyo appeared out of nowhere and crossed his path, unloading a barrage of bombs. While she didn't kill him, the fiend's ship's altitude dropped for a moment, causing him to lose his lock-on on us. He turned around and decided that it would be best to take out the most threatening gear, and undoubtedly, the best one among us was Ukyo.

Yet in his anger, he failed to realize that there was a truly deadly pilot stalking him. As he flew with the sole intention of bringing Ukyo down, Maici soared above him and attacked him mercilessly. This time, Mr. Nice was unable to withstand the mighty blasts of the expert B-gear pilot. Just before his ship crashed, he was forced to vanish from the field of battle.

"Nice going, Ukyo," Maici said. "Next time, though, try to get a little closer. That way you'll ensure that all your bombs hit him."

"Roger that, Maici!" Ukyo enthusiastically replied.

"Too bad B-gears don't have enough space: I should've gone with someone who knows what the crap she's doing," I grumbled and truly meant every word of that statement.

"If you believe you are so fit to do this, then please, be my guest," the were-bear answered.

"Yeah, right. Look, ma! No hands!"

"If your missing limb is an impediment for you to do this, then you will have to settle with me. Shut your mouth and instead of assaulting me with insults and all other sorts of verbal aggression, try to focus on helping me. If not, you can always get out of the tank. The hatch is just a few inches above us."

"I am trying to help you, jackass! But it's not my fault if you completely suck ba— I-gear trying to get away! Snare him!"

I really don't know how things would've turned out if that ship hadn't appeared on our radar. I would've probably banged Octavius's head a few times to see if that caused him to stop malfunctioning. Thankfully he didn't mess up this time and captured the fleeing ship with the tractor beam. Then, the I-gear was overrun by a numerous volleys shot by Jam, Leon, BlackMercy, and Siachen.

"Excellent job, mate!" Siachen cheered. "I thought Xerosin would cause us lots of trouble, but you snared him just in time! Good going!"

"Well done," I added, finding myself at ease at last. "It seems you finally managed to pull your head out of your ass."

"One more hostile word out of you and I will cast you out of the ship myself," the were-bear warned. I was about to answer: 'I dare you to do it', but we sort of had to focus on the fight... I'd think about kicking his ass later.

"Octavius, follow me," said Tek as he drove in front of us. "Come on; let's go to the other warp. We need to bring down the enemy camp. There aren't many B-gears: they're the perfect target for us."

"Lead the way," Octavius answered.

We gathered with the rest of the A-gears who were already blasting the I-gears with heavy fire. It seemed to me that the B.C.U., while numerous, weren't fighting their best. We had scattered them and that had practically meant victory for our part.

"We're repelling them!" Mosfet cheerfully announced.

"Don't sing your praises just yet," Honrar said. "There's still a very large force attacking Shrine – and the latter has already deployed its defenders."

"Evening won't let any of our A-gears close," Cayenne declared. "We need I-gears to take him down."

"And an M-gear to scan him should he turn invisible," BlackMercy said. "Ziggy, you're the man for the job: help me; I'll try to bring him down."

"I'm on my way," Ziggy answered. "Since you're there, Cayenne, keep scanning as well. We need to cover as much territory as possible with our sonar so he won't get away."

"Forgive me for saying such a thing, but I really hope we bring him down permanently this time," BlackMercy said.

"Heads up, were-bear," I said, noticing a bomber flying in our direction. "Don't let that thing near us."

"I am well aware of the fiend," he replied.

"Do we have enough energy to turn up our barrier?"

"Enough to withstand one or two onslaughts, I believe."

I took a deep breath and hoped that Octavius wouldn't screw it up this time. Nevertheless, he didn't have to prove himself at all... The enemy ship approached us and opened its bomb hatch, ready to blast us into oblivion, causing Octavius to instantly turn up our special shields. Yet the pilot failed to notice that Ukyo was following him closely behind. Once she was in range, she let loose her bombs. The B.C.U.'s gear wasn't as resilient as that of other more experienced pilots... He was unable to withstand Ukyo's attack. The opposing B-gear caught fire and nose-dived into the ground, where it blew up into dozens of pieces.

"Well done, Ukyo," Twist said. "You should stay close to the tanks. They could use you around."

"...Did he die?" she asked in a low voice. If come from another person, I would've probably answered: 'Why, yes he did! How very observant of you!', and even then, I would've been a royal bitch. Naturally, though, that wasn't the case. And so, I only limited myself to say:

"Chances are he did. This is war."

"...Damn it," she murmured. Even so, she kept circling us, wary of any ships that might approach us. And again, if I were a nicer person, I would've said something like: 'You're a good girl, Ukyo.' But if I did that, it wouldn't have sounded natural. I'm many things, but I'm no hypocrite.

"Shrine is approaching our position," ShabelleTiger announced. "Keep the B.C.U. away from him."

"We still don't have enough people to drive them away!" Djneff grumbled.

"You're going to have to make an effort," Mosfet said. "They're sending reinforcements: we can't leave the warp!"

"Well, let's go give them a hand," I said. "You're still with us, Ukyo?"

"Yeah... yeah," she replied.

"Ukyo: focus."

"Yeah, I got it, I got it."

"And you, Octavius, what do you say you try out that Air Siege modality Djneff and Mosfet told us about earlier, hmm? I don't feel that safe on the ground anymore."

"For once your words are constructive," the were-bear replied.

With that said, we flew to where our ships were gathered. We found ourselves gawping in awe at an enormous vessel which flew over a large lake. The A.N.I. and B.C.U. ships surrounded it and let a storm of missiles and bullets rain upon it. The huge ship couldn't defend itself, but it did posses a large number of tiny vessels which surrounded it like a swarm protecting its beehive. While not overwhelmingly powerful, the small ships were certainly pestering.

I noticed that there was one B.C.U B-gear that had a whole formation on his ass. I looked at the radar and realized that this had been the B-gear the fellows had been talking about.

"Damn that freaking engine!" Twist cursed. "He's moving too fast! We're having trouble catching up with him!"

"Make him turn. I'll intercept him on the way back," Maici said.

"Be careful, Maici," Siachen said. "Even VR4's improvements on your armor can mean squat against that guy."

"I'm well aware, Siachen, but we can't let him keep bombing A-gears."

"Guys, we really need you all to stop chasing Evening and help out with the B.C.U. attacking Shrine," Leon declared. "We're already outnumbered as it is: we can't afford all of you to go chasing after a single ship."

"You're right, Leon," BlackMercy replied. "I'm coming over to help you guys. Twist, Siachen: you take care of Evening."

"Cayenne, go with them. They'll need you to scan the proximities," Ziggy added.

The formation broke up into two parts. The two I-gears carried on their pursuit on Evening, with the help of Cayenne, while the rest of the ships carried on their attack against the huge carrier and the B.C.U. attempting to bring it down.

Evening had already defeated several of our A-gears and had even managed to utterly destroy two or three. He was a deadly opponent that needed to be shot down immediately. The guy's plan was to lead him to Maici, who would be ready to bomb him when near. Quite the risky strategy, for all of them. In the end though, their tactic somewhat worked. Maici did manage to intercept Evening in his race and unleashed a volley of bombs, which damaged his ship... but not enough. The B.C.U. pilot was not enough stupid to stay and give battle to two dangerous I-gears, an M-gear who could give away his position, and a monstrous B-gear that was in much better shape... yet he was bold enough to keep on trying to bring down as many lesser ships as possible.

Octavius stopped the tank in midair and commenced fire against the speedy B-gear. This forced him to stay away from us, but he refused to leave the battlefield. He was beginning to piss me off.

"That guy has to go," I grumbled.

"I could land and try shooting at him from the ground," the were-bear said. "Yet it would be too risky."

"He'd bomb the living hell out of us," I answered. "If even Maici has second thoughts about receiving a full blast from him, I don't want to think what he can do to us."

"I've got him locked on," Jam said through the communicator. "I'm going to fire upon him." By the tone in which she had said that, it seemed more as if she was asking for permission to attack rather than announcing it.

"Wait one second..." Twist instructed. I then saw how he flew his ship behind Evening, while Jam positioned herself in front of the foe. "All right! Fire at will!"

"Got ya!" cried Jam and began the assault.

Twist waited just a couple of seconds after Jam fired her volleys to unleash his. This turned out to be quite a good teamwork. Evening knew hew had two different sets of missiles coming out him, on different times, on different directions. In other words, he would only be able to evade one. So he chose to eat Jam's missiles instead of Twist's. His decision kept him from dying, yet he was unable to remain within the field of battle. At last he was forced to use his Town Portal.

"'Bout freaking time," I groaned. "Good move, Marmalade Jam," I said aloud, to my own surprise. I did that out of mere reflex... Out of mere reflex? Shit. Maybe I was actually beginning to like that bitch, I realized... Was I...? Hanging around Ukyo and Wilheim was bringing me more problems than I thought.

"I didn't expect to hear a compliment coming out of you," she replied. "But I thank it, nonetheless." Why? Why did she add that? If she hadn't thanked me, I would've kept hating her without a worry, like always, but... Damn it! I couldn't believe it!

Well, I would certainly have time rekindle my loathing for her later. No doubt she would mess up and make me dislike her again. Right now, I had to concentrate on the B.C.U. and on that huge carrier.

"Those idiots aren't letting us near Shrine!" Honrar exclaimed. "They're going to down it and take the materials with them!"

"Calm down, Honrar," Maici said. "They've got us outnumbered here... What's the situation at the warp, Mosfet?"

"We could be doing better," the A-gear pilot answered. "You know, you could call up some reinforcements..."

"I've already sent a distress transmission to VR4 and Dan," she replied. "I can only hope that they'll gather some pilots on their way here... They've got us outnumbered..." she mused, no longer addressing Mosfet. "So we can't attack from one direction. We've got to surround them so that way we can counter their advantage."

"Good thinking," Ziggy said. "Okay, I've got it: Honrar, Tek, Djneff, and Octavius, position yourselves around Shrine and turn on your barriers. Keep shooting at the B.C.U. and at Shrine's vessels, but don't fire against the carrier. B-gears should fire on both Shrine and the B.C.U.; I-gears: give the enemy hell. Cayenne, Ranma, the others, and I will do our best to keep you all in prime condition."

"I like that plan," ShabelleTiger said. "Okay, let's do it!"

"It is possible we might be delayed," Octavius told me, pointing at the radar.

"An M-gear?" I asked, as I saw the name Pink Panther on the radar and then turned around to see what sort of ship it was. My gut had been right. "Shit, he's locking on to us!"

The fiend fired a single volley of missiles. Octavius skillfully rolled through them and the M-gear overshot us. It was the first time the were-bear had done that maneuver, and neither of us liked it the least...

"Please don't do that again," I muttered upon feeling my lungs and my stomach press against each other.

"I will not unless absolutely necessary," he answered.

"That B.C.U. is turning around," Leon warned. "Look out, you two!"

So it was that the 'absolutely necessary' came again over so short time.

"He has locked onto us again," the were-bear announced.

"You're going to roll again, aren't you?" I groaned. I didn't even wait for him to reply, for I already knew the answer. I held on and shut my eyes tightly as I said: "Do it quickly. Like ripping off a band-aid..."

The alarm went off as Octavius rolled through the volley. A few missiles did hit us either way, but they only succeeded in knocking our shields out; the ship was, thankfully, still intact. The bad news was that I was seconds away from throwing up. One more harsh movement and I would... baptize the were-bear.

The pilot immediately (but quite smoothly, thank God) landed the tank on the ground and resumed fire, but not before activating the barrier. It was a shame that an A-gear could only fly or turn on the special shields, but not both...

"He is coming back for us," Octavius said. "The B.C.U.'s perseverance is admirable, yet also irritating."

"Come on, shoot his ass down!"

Octavius kept on shooting while withstanding the barrage of bullets and missiles Pink Panther fired upon us. Before long, he managed to eliminate our barrier. However, he had apparently been left out of shields, because he didn't stay on course long enough to finish us off. Whatever the case, Ukyo was also watching our backs, so she swooped down and attacked Pink Panther. Again, some of her bombs missed the target, yet she did harm him. The B.C.U. was getting ready to attack her when Leon intervened, firing bullets and missiles like crazy. The enemy's ship began to smoke and we knew he was almost defeated. He turned away from us and began to look for another M-gear that might help repair his heavily damaged ship: his own skills proved to be insufficient to put out the fire consuming his aircraft.

At that moment, WhiteHawkOne came back from the city and commenced fire against the damaged gear. Seeing that this time he had no option, he immediately vanished from the field of battle.

"Ha! Coward," he scoffed. "See how he ran at the mere sight of me?"

"Yes, because, of course, we didn't do a thing," Ukyo grumbled.

"Well, you helped," he said with a chuckle.

"'We helped'..." I muttered, to myself. "I hate that piece of shit."

"Hey, WhiteHawkOne, you have a B-gear tailing you," Leon dryly warned.

"Yeah, I'm aware: I can see it on the radar, you know. No need to make a fuss." I can only imagine what Leon was thinking about that asshole.

The B.C.U. – some guy called Sporkz – steadily made his way towards WhiteHawkOne and released a volley of bombs upon him. The A.N.I. pilot skillfully dodged the first volley and counterattacked. The fiend too evaded the attack (though not all of it). However, WhiteHawkOne ended up too close to his opponent. Sporkz got ready to unleash another volley of bombs and this time it appeared that the A.N.I. pilot wouldn't be able to get away so easily. But, seeing this, WhiteHawkOne immediately abandoned the battlefield. As he teleported back to the city, the bombs fell harmlessly on the ground.

His cowardice really got me pissed. He could've evaded most of the bombs and gone to an M-gear for repairs, but instead...

"Fuck that son of a bitch!!" I roared. "That royal asshole leaves us with all the trouble just because he doesn't want his fucking ship to be scratched! Fuck him to hell!!"

"Baiken, focus on the battle," Maici harshly said. Nevertheless, I refused to shut up just like that.

"Kill-on-sight bitches, better tell White-Cock-One not to go running like a fucking coward if he doesn't want me to chop his fucking dick off – if he even has one – next time we meet in town!!" Upon saying these words, I heard some muffled laughter through the communicators. I think those had been Ranma and Marmalade Jam...

"Hey, Ziggy, better—" began to say Earl, but the M-gear pilot interrupted.

"Put a leash on my people. I know: shut up and keep fighting," he replied, but did not address me at all. Good for him...

"Calm down, woman," Octavius murmured. "It is best you save your strength for our enemies. You may not be able to attack them physically, but use your rage to fuel your thinking. Especially now, for the carrier's ships are quickly surrounding us."

"Right now is when we could use some goddamn help," I growled. "The fucking vampire is at least brave... Okay, I'm calm." I studied our surroundings before speaking again.

Like Octavius had said, the small ships had utterly surrounding us, like a swarm attacking an intruder that approaches its hive. We could barely see out of the cockpit. Shots came at us from all directions. The tank rocked as if an earthquake were striking the land. We were in trouble, all right. And the worst part was that Sporkz was still at large, causing mayhem. Our companions tried to bring him down, but he had the help of the rest of his B.C.U. comrades. Many of our allies were forced to retreat. Honrar was such a case. He had already withstood a lot of punishment from several B.C.U. and our M-gears' skills weren't enough to keep him in prime condition. Sporkz rendered his tank useless by dropping a lot of bombs onto him the moment his barrier yielded to the other gears' attacks.

"Oh, damn..." he grunted.

"Honrar, go back to Arlington," Maici said. "We'll be fine. Go, now!"

"Sorry, guys," he murmured and vanished.

For our part, Shrine's ships had us so busy that the B.C.U. didn't bother to shoot us... for a while. Our little group was truly struggling to get away from the freaking swarm. The more experienced A.N.I. did this with little difficulty, yet we were but rookies and could barely handle this challenge.

"I can't see ten feet away from us!" Sakura yelled. "They're everywhere!"

"Calm down, Sakura, they don't hurt that much," Leon said. "Concentrate on repairing our ships and don't panic. We need to get rid of these things so we can go help TA and the others against the B.C.U."

Luckily for us, the tiny vessels dropped dead with two mere shots from our gun. Because of that, it was a lot easier for us to destroy these enemies. However, we were the ones that took the most damage, since Octavius was a bit more decent firing while keeping still on the ground, which made us an irresistible target to those bastards. Thankfully Sakura and the other two boys looked alive and repaired our tank and our shields.

Leon and Jam also killed a lot of these opponents. Surprisingly, Ukyo was the one that had the hardest time during all of this. While she had proved to be the best pilot among us, her targets were much smaller than the B.C.U. Because of this, it was very difficult for her to land an effective barrage of bombs. Most of her projectiles missed their mark. She was forced to take down the ships with her machine gun fire, which caused her targets to stay alive much longer than ours and those of our friends. She also tried firing normal, guided missiles, yet her projectiles were so slow that the tiny vessels evaded them with great ease.

We soon got rid of these pests and were able to focus on the B.C.U. The enemy had defeated almost every one of our companions. Only Maici, Siachen, Ziggy, and BlackMercy remained on the battle for Shrine. Twist, Tek, Cayenne, and Djneff had gone to lend a hand to Mosfet and ShabelleTiger and the other A.N.I. that were struggling to hold the line against the B.C.U. at the warp. And to make matters worse, it appeared that Shrine wouldn't last two minutes more against the enemy.

At that moment, though, we had a breather.

"TA, we've come to help: sorry for the delay," said Dan's voice.

"Thank God you showed up," Maici replied.

"I hope we're not too late," added another pilot. Since we hadn't heard him speak before, I assumed that was VR4.

"Please tell us you've got some nasty missiles packed in your ship," BlackMercy. "We could sure use them, VR4."

"Don't worry: we're on our way. We got your position on radar."

In a matter of seconds, both of them got to where we made our stand and ruthlessly fired upon the B.C.U. VR4 let loose a barrage of mighty bombs that utterly destroyed a few gears, while Dan – who was piloting his I-gear Lullaby – teamed up with BlackMercy and together they chased Sporkz away. Their endless volleys of missiles finally forced the cursed B.C.U. to use a Town Portal.

"Lullaby, did you bring any additional help?" asked Cayenne.

"No; the new clones aren't ready, yet," he answered.

"That's a shame... We certainly could've used two or three kamikaze warriors."

"What is he talking about?" Leon asked.

"Explanations come later," Maici said. "Listen, guys: by the looks of it, the B.C.U. are the ones who will down Shrine. But we can steal the materials from them before they get a hold of them."

"Well, we've got some good news, at least," VR4 said. "It appears that there aren't any more trainees here to rescue. Those that were alive have been safely evacuated."

"That means we can grab the materials and get the hell out of here," Ziggy added. "There are too many B.C.U. to deal with right now: it's best we retreat for the time being."

"I agree," Dan interjected. "I'll try to chase away as many B.C.U. as I can so you guys can take the materials without too much trouble."

"I'll help, then," BlackMercy said.

"I-gears are the fastest ships, so we need a few of those to gather the materials," Maici pointed out. "Twist, Jam, and Leon: get near Shrine and wait for it to come down. When it does, fly to its remnants and get what's left of them."

"How do we do that?" asked Kuradoberi.

"Gears have a special magnetic device that will attract specific items to your vessel," Twist explained. "All you have to do is to get near them and then fly like a bat out of hell."

"Okay..."

"We'll keep the B.C.U. away," Djneff said. "But we'll have to leave the warp in order to do so..."

"The warp is nearly lost, anyway," ShabelleTiger groaned. "I say we all race towards Shrine and take the materials. After that, we run away as fast as we can."

"I don't really like that plan, but I don't think we have a better choice," Mosfet mused. "All right, you guys let us know when's a good time to get to Shrine and help."

"No time like the present!" BlackMercy cried.

With that said, the warp's defense retreated and swarmed to our side. For just that brief moment, our numbers were equal to those of B.C.U. The enemies were caught off guard by the sudden arrival of reinforcements and they fell quickly to the guns and missiles of the mighty gears. Moments later, Shrine was bombarded by all A.N.I. B-gears. It was unable to withstand so much punishment and crashed on the ground, leaving a trail of smoke and fire pour into the sky.

Without losing the slightest instant, Jam, Twist, Leon, and ShabelleTiger swooped to the remains of the huge carrier and gathered all the resources the ship had yielded. Seconds latter, a massive B.C.U. force flew against us. There was no way we would be able to hold our ground against so many enemies.

"Fall back!" Maici exclaimed.

We all flew to the opposite warp at full speed. I sank into my seat as Octavius directed all of the ship's power to the thrusters. And just as we were about to reach the gate, White-Ass-One came out of it and met with us.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"We're retreating! Fall back!" Twist said.

"We're running away? Why? I thought we were winning! We don't run! We're not cowards!" I don't know what the rest of my companions were thinking, but like hell I was going to remain quiet after that.

"You know, White-Fuck-One, I'd call you cynical, but I'm not sure if your little brain can process that sort of information," I snarled.

"You complain too much," he laughed. Fucking jerk...

"Concentrate on escaping; you'll soon have all the time in the world to insult each other," ShabelleTiger declared and then, we all successfully made it through the warp and restlessly flew back to Arlington City.

_(Change of scene)_

Back in the city, things between White-Klutz-One and me got a little tense. As I got out of the tank, I went to yell at him all sorts of things that would make his mama cry. The rest of his brigade tried to drive me away, but in the end, they thought he could do his own fighting. The idiot tried to act cool, as if I weren't bothering him with all the things I was saying, but everyone could see he was really irritated. His lame excuses for having run of like that on both occasions tired me to the point in which I simply made my way to the bar, leaving him talking by himself... Well, cursing by himself that is, because I was unable to restrain myself and broke his nose again. Although doing that made me feel pretty damn good, I recognized I sort of needed to work on my temper a bit.

Some of my companions and most of TA's brigade members had returned to Headquarters to rest for a bit. As I entered the bar, I saw that this was not Maici's case. She, Ukyo, and Marmalade Jam were sitting at a table, having a few drinks. My pupil didn't seem to be in very good shape. She appeared to be depressed and was drowning her sorrows in booze.

Normally, I'd sat down by myself. But I cared for Ukyo, and I wanted to make sure she was all right. There, I said it.

"What are you girls having?" I asked.

"I'm having a beer," Maici replied.

"Margarita here," Jam said.

"I'm having a... what the hell is this?" Ukyo muttered, eyeing her drink. Oh, boy... this was going to be hell-a fun. I guessed that I had mistaken her apparent depression for the drunken state she was in. I sort of wished Wilheim were there to see this.

"All right, scoot over," I told her and sat down beside her while the other two chuckled as they saw her trying to make out what her drink was. "Let me have a drink," I murmured, grabbing her cup and taking a small zip.

"Hey!" she whined.

"Vodka," I blurted, making a disgusted face.

"I thought you were into all sorts of drinks," Jam said with a mocking smile. At that time, I had let out all my anger on White-Fuck-One, so I didn't get mad at her for the moment.

"She's having vodka with nothing else. I hate vodka when there's no juice to mix it with, or something of the sort. I love sake... but since they have none here, I settle with Tequila. Yo, bartender!" I called. "Give me a Tequila shot, will ya?" I then turned to Ukyo and said: "I didn't know you were an alcoholic... We've been on the ground for ten minutes and you're already stuttering."

"I'm not stuttering!" she clumsily retorted. "...Okay, maybe I am a bit drunk. But you know, I guessed I should better have a toast on the man I killed... May he forgive me in the afterlife."

...Okay, so things weren't going to be as fun as I thought.

"Ukyo, we've already told you that this wasn't your fault," Maici said with a comforting tone. "We're in a war and people die. It was either you or him. There is nothing to be ashamed of, no reason to feel guilty."

"Well, I feel very guilty," Ukyo replied. "What if he was married and had kids? I just made someone an orphan... or a widow... God, I'm such a douche..."

"Don't say those things..."

"Come on, Ukyo. You're about as evil as Baiken is polite," Jam said, with a smile. Strangely enough, she didn't seem to have done that to try to piss me. It was as if she had goofed with an old friend... Maybe she was drunk too. That or things with her were going better than I thought... which wasn't so good. Whatever the case, if she wanted to joke around...

"You're as evil as Jam's voice is pleasing to the ear," I added, returning the grin.

"You jerk," she groaned, and she still failed to sound pissed.

"Whatever, guys," Ukyo sighed. At that moment, the bartender arrived with my drink. The girl lifted her glass up. "Cheers," she said. I clinked her glass with mine and we took a zip. "You know, I'm starting to wonder if Wilheim deserves to have a girlfriend like me."

"Well, if you want to break up with him, I wanna be the first to know," Jam chuckled.

Ukyo remained silent for a few moments, but then she giggled and shook her head.

"You stay away from him." Yet her face then became grim again. "It's that he's such a good man... I don't know if he deserves someone like me."

"I'm sure your boyfriend loves you, Ukyo," Maici assured. "And stop saying nonsense. You are a good person, okay?"

"Besides, it's not like he can say much," I interjected. "He's been forced to take lives before, hasn't he? And, like you said, he's still a good man. Why should it be different for you?"

"...You have a point. Does that Tequila make you wittier?" she asked and, without even asking, she took my glass and drank every last drop. I looked at her in shock: I wasn't expecting that. "Hmm! This one has a better taste. I think I'll have some of it now..."

"Yeah, right. Mix 'em up..." I murmured. "And order another shot for me while you're at it, got it? And a word of warning: you're going to wake up with a terrible hangover."

"I'll worry about it tomorrow. Right now I want my drink!!" she yelled to the bartender. "Where're our drinks? Oh! Sorry, I still haven't ordered... Make that two Tequila shots. You girls want anything?" she asked, glancing at Maici and Jam.

"One more beer and then I'm done," Maici said.

"I think I'm okay," Jam replied.

"Wow, I'm pretty dizzy now..." Ukyo declared, letting her head rest on the table. She turned to Maici and said: "You're a great person, Maici. You're a great leader, too. Your men care for you a lot... Heck, I like you a lot. But as a friend, you know, nothing more. It's not like I'm a lesbian or anything. You're a good woman, that's all I'm sayin'..."

"Well... thanks, Ukyo," she giggle nervously.

"No, really! I think you're a smart, honest woman! Just the sort of woman the worlds need... But I'm it's not like I'm a lesbian. It's just that I admire you very much, you know..." Yep, we had officially lost her.

"I'm... flattered, I suppose."

"I wish Wilheim were here," Ukyo went on. "He's such a good man. Sometimes I wonder if I deserve to have someone as good as he. I love him so much... you know I love him, don't you?" she asked, turning to Jam. The woman decided not to joke with her for the time being and merely nodded silently. "I love him very much, because he's such a good man, and—"

"Ukyo, you're rambling," I interrupted.

"Oh, am I? I'm 'sowy'... Is feeling this dizzy this 'nolmal?'"

"Yeah, when you're dead drunk."

"Am I 'reawy' so 'dwunk'? Oh, there are our shots!" she cheered and clapped her hands. The bartender left the glasses on the table and as he did this, Ukyo immediately grabbed one and drank it whole in the blink of an eye. I got a hold of mine before she would gobble it up.

The bartender stared at us and asked in a low voice:

"She's not flying a ship, is she?"

"In this state, I don't even think she'll make it out of the bar by herself," Maici said.

"Just taking precautions... Some guys do fly when they're tipsy."

"Ahh!!" Ukyo exclaimed as she put the empty glass on the table. "Wow, I didn't know Tequila tasted so good! Hey, Baiken, how come you're not drunk? You've had like a hundred shots!"

"The ones I've had before coming in here don't count, Ukyo," I answered, making both Jam and Maici chuckle.

"Ah, you're so right! You're a 'weally' good 'women' Baiken... don't let anyone t-tell you differ... different."

"Aren't you sleepy?" I asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable. I thought I would have fun making fun of her a bit, but I simply couldn't bring myself to do such a thing. I realized I truly cared for her.

"A bit, yes," she laughed. "But I want to stay awake a bit longer so I can talk with you guys."

"Shit..." I murmured to myself in a very low voice.

"Listen, Ukyo, I think you've had enough excitement for today," Maici ventured to declare. "How about you sleep for a while? We're going to go to bed ourselves pretty soon."

"Aw, you're no fun!" she groaned, making a sad face. She remained silent for a few moments and then, with a sigh, she said: "Okay, maybe I do need to 'sweep' a bit..." She tried to get up and, naturally, immediately sat down. "Wow... is there an earth... earth... a tremor...! Is it going on, or something?"

"Not really," Maici replied, getting up from her seat. She helped Ukyo to her feet and then turned to us and said: "You can stay here a bit longer. I'll get this one to bed before she does anything stupid."

"Like, getting drunk?" I grumbled. I really didn't like to see her intoxicated. I didn't know whether to feel mad at her or to feel sorry for her.

"Hey, bartender," she called, without heeding my remark. "No more beer for me, please. I'm leaving... Put my friends' drinks on my tab, please."

"Okay," he dryly answered. And so Maici carried Ukyo off.

I shook my head and took a zip of my drink.

"How many drinks did she have before I got here?" I asked.

"One," Jam answered. "I guess she's not used to drinking."

"I'm worried that she'll turn to drinking to drown her grief. It's not a good thing to do..."

"Like you're the one to talk," Jam retorted. With Ukyo and Maici gone, the usual tension between us returned... only a bit more diluted. "I don't see you go anywhere without your bottle."

"Have you seen me drunk?" I questioned.

"You don't have to be drunk to be an alcoholic. But of course, it'll be a cold day in hell when you accept that you have a drinking problem."

"Since when did you become my conscience?"

"I'm just pointing it out," she replied. "I'd be more worried about you than Ukyo. Besides, you should cut her some slack. She was terribly sad before you came along... Getting drunk once isn't going to hurt her."

"Hmm... Was she really that sad?" I asked.

"Baiken, killing one person isn't like stealing a few bucks from a guy. She just ended with one man's life. I mean, I'm sure you must've felt like crap when you first killed someone, right? Surely, not that it means much to you nowadays..."

"Oh, that's pretty fucking tactful of you," I snarled. I could've lived without that comment... and the Tequila had made me a bit more sensitive. "It's not like I'm a cold-blooded murderer, ass. As for her, it's not like the first time she's ever killed anyone."

"...What?" Jam blurted.

'...Shit,' I thought. I had spoken too much. Now I really felt like crap. Ukyo had trusted me with a very personal anecdote and I had just spilled it as if I were talking about something that had happened in a T.V. show. I shut my eye and put my hand on my forehead. After secretly insulting myself for being such an authentic douche, I merely sighed and answered: "It's none of your business. And it's actually none of mine, either. I shouldn't have said that."

"...What do you mean that it's not the first time?" she pressed.

"It's something she talked to me about. Ask her sometime later, but don't tell her I said anything. I really should've kept my mouth shut."

"...Okay," she murmured. It appeared that my remorse shocked her. My reputation was sort of messy...

"Besides, what sort of saying do you have in all of this, Marmalade Jam?" I added. "You're the one who killed that gear and collected the reward."

"I didn't kill her, Baiken," she confessed, looking at me with tired eyes.

"You didn't? And you still went for the money?" I asked, surprised. "So that means she's still at large..."

"No one's seen her for the longest time," she explained. "And no one went to claim the reward. So I thought I might as well as do it: I needed the money for my restaurant."

"Which is now pure ashes," I said. "Life's a bitch, huh? Cheers," I added with a grin and drank a bit more of my Tequila. Jam simply shook her head and looked away with anger. "Well, actually, now that I think about it, killing a gear isn't the same as killing a person. They don't deserve any pity. Don't worry: if I ever see her, I'll make sure to undo your scam. She'll be unquestionably dead and your conscience will be clear."

"And you say you're not a cold-blooded murderer..." Jam groaned.

"Think what you will. Killing humans is one thing. I can do it, but it's not my cup of tea (depending on the man, that is). But killing gears is a true satisfaction," I concluded and left the table.

_(Change of scene)_

After successfully reaffirming our mutual loathing for each other, Jam and I returned to TA's Headquarters. Maici was the only one who was still awake. Everyone else had practically collapsed on their beds. Thankfully, Ukyo was also snoring like a lion. She'd be sorry in the morning...

Jam bid us good night and went to bed. For my part, I wasn't feeling very sleepy. I sat on the living room, where Maici was peacefully reading a book. The lights in the living room were dim and barely illuminated the table. Everything else was in shadows. She had a small lamp stuck on the pages of her book... it's not like she wanted to go blind.

"Did she give you a lot of trouble?" I asked her in a low voice.

"Nah. She fell like a sack of potatoes," she giggled. "Poor Ukyo... she was really upset. I don't think that girl is meant to fight in wars."

"Well, she can't just stay here doing nothing. After all, you are helping us to find our companions."

"Hmm... You're right about that, sadly," she sighed. "Anyway... how did it go with WhiteHawkOne?"

"As expected. The son of a bitch pissed me off, so I broke his goddamn nose again."

"You should learn to control your temper," she chuckled nervously.

"He deserved more than that and you know it, sister."

"Yes, but... I don't know. It's just that I don't think problems should be solved that way. It's best to ignore them."

"So what do you do when people like the Goons come and start shitting on everyone else?" Seeing her confused, for we had barely spoken to one another and I knew that she disliked that brigade, I added, after a slight pause: "Ukyo told me that you can't stand their guts."

"Oh, I see," she muttered with a shy smile. "Stuff that they do... The way they glorify themselves... The way they treat everyone else... It just makes me angry." She shook her head and quickly changed the subject. "Tell me about your companions."

"The ones missing?" I asked. She nodded silently and I understood she didn't want to talk about her relationship with that bunch of jerks. "Meh... Most of them are okay, I guess. If not for one fucking idiot, I'd probably like those guys better than the ones I'm stuck with... except for Ukyo."

"You and the others don't get along?"

"Not really. Octavius is a freaking iceberg; he's even more unsociable than me, and that's saying something," I said, getting a chuckle from her. "Akane and Ranma are a bit stupid: Ryoga's a freaking retard. Leon... He's okay. Ukyo is the one I get along with the most. She's a good girl."

"And Jam?"

"Ah, her," I grunted, rolling my eye.

"I thought you and her got along... You were so friendly at her at the bar..."

"I had just emptied my fury on White-Bitch-One. I was at ease... that's why I was nice to her. She's a moron... and a slut."

"Wow... if you don't like them, how come you're with them?" she asked.

"I'm sort of stuck," I answered. "Because of the Heartless..." I sighed and then added: "Well, it's not like I can't complain much. Most of them might be idiots, but at least all of them have good hearts. I guess that's why I change of scenery might do me some good."

"What do you mean?"

"...Nothing," I murmured and turned away.

"Well, you didn't tell me about your other friends..." she said, choosing (thankfully) to forget the matter. "How about this Wilheim? Is he an... idiot, too?" she giggled.

"Yeah, he's a fool," I replied, with a smile. "But he's a likeable fool. Dumb-witted, clueless, and shy as a mouse... yet he's all right. I like him. He's the one of the other bunch I like the best, I should say."

"So do I..." murmured a voice from one of the shadows. It was a voice that did not belong to any of my companions. And by the look of Maici's face, I immediately guessed that that had been no Tactical Aggression member, either.

I stood up and faced the place from where the voice had come from. I grasped the hilt of my katana and got ready for battle. I had a funny feeling about this newcomer...

"Step into the light, pussy," I challenged. "Or are you too scared to face me?"

"Be careful with your dares, woman," answered the voice. It was a female, determined tone with a very, very familiar air to it. It almost gave me chills when I heard it.

"You're not allowed in here," Maici said. I glanced at her and noticed she had armed herself with a futuristic gun. "I won't suffer spies in our Headquarters. Put your hands up and show yourself: I don't want to shoot you."

"You couldn't defeat me in a million years," mocked the voice. Then, the woman stepped into the light.

She had a tall, athletic body. Yet we couldn't see her face, because it was hidden under a black hood. I'd seen the clothes she wore before. I instantly knew that this was a Nobody.

"Another Organization XIII clown," I snarled. "Okay, bone-head. I'll give you three seconds to leave, before I give you a free lesson in inner anatomy with your own organs."

"What a kind offer," she snickered. "But you're way overconfident. You won't even touch me."

"I'm beginning the countdown," I warned. "One."

"Two," quickly added Maici, pointing her gun at the fiend's head.

"But, Baiken..." she murmured, innocently, her voice becoming even more familiar. "Would you really dare to kill me? After all..." She paused and removed her hood. Upon looking at her, I stopped breathing for a moment. It had been a long time since I had been so shocked. "I'm your only friend."

The Nobody was identical to Ukyo. The only differences between them were their eyes, hair, and skin. The Nobody's hair had a purple color; unlike Ukyo's blue, peaceful eyes, her irises had a red, angry tone; and her skin was darker than that of my companion. Aside from these details, she was Ukyo's twin. And she knew my name, too... Something weird was at hand... According to Sora's explanation, only powerful beings' bodies that had their hearts stolen by the Heartless could turn into Nobodies. What the fuck was that Ukyo clone doing there, in front of me?

"What the shit...?!" I muttered in a hoarse voice.

"W-who are you?" stuttered Maici. Despite being as surprised as I was, she still held her gun firmly.

"You seem a bit taken aback," the Nobody chuckled. "What's the matter, Baiken? Cat got your tongue?"

"What the fuck are you??" I demanded and my grip on my sword tightened again.

"I am Ukyo," she answered. "A part of her, at least, you could say. But I don't like to go by that bitch's name. Not the least. You can call me Kyuxo."

"Part of her...?" Maici barely murmured.

"How the heck can there be an Ukyo Nobody? She's still in control of her body, last I heard..." I argued.

"True. Then again, why didn't you ask the same question about Roxas?" the Nobody replied.

"What? That name..." I mumbled, remembering our little talk with the Nobody at the Greek Underworld.

"Oops. Maybe I am speaking a bit too much," she chuckled and began to approach me.

"All right... details are unimportant. In fact, I don't give a fuck about how is it that you really came to be. You better get out of here you royal fuck, before I cut your freaking head off," I growled and got ready to unleash a quick, certain blow.

"Shhh... quiet down, you'll wake up everyone," Kyuxo snickered.

"Step back!" Maici ordered.

The Nobody stopped in her tracks and glared at Maici. Her red eyes shone with fury and hatred... She reminded me of Ukyo when she and Jam couldn't stand each other, only that my pupil had lacked the terrifying loathing this fiend possessed in her stare.

"You're a spare. Get the fuck away from me," she grumbled and raised her palm at Maici. She then shot some sort of shockwave which knocked my companion away, causing her to emit a startled scream as she lost the grip on her weapon. Her head crashed against one of the walls and then she remained severely stunned and was unable to get back to her feet. Then, the door that led to the rest of our companions' bedroom shut tightly. This wasn't going to be pretty...

Seeing that it wasn't likely that anyone would come to help us, I stood between Kyuxo and Maici. It seems that it was all up to me now.

"All right, what do you want me to cut off first?" I threatened. "Give one more step. Please, give one more goddamn step."

"Please, Baiken," she laughed. "All of a sudden you have feelings for that meddlesome slut?"

"Does Ukyo even know those words? Or it's just a trait of a 'wanna-be something'?" I jeered. "I really don't care much for Maici: but I don't like to see bastards like you harming innocent folk."

"Like the gears did with your friends and family?" she asked.

She caught me off guard with that question. For a moment, I was unable to reply. Her smile grew confident and wicked.

"I thought so," she said.

"How... how the fuck did you...?" I whispered.

"I know a lot of things," she answered. Her fiendish eyes then emitted a strange glow. I stared at them and something inexplicable happened...

I felt afraid. I felt a sort of fear I hadn't felt since that fateful day... I was paralyzed. Kyuxo moved towards me and I was unable to move a finger. I felt the flames... I saw my father face the gears only to get... I felt my mother's inert arms around me as she held me when the fiend brought down its sword and... I felt the same fright, the same pain, the same sorrow... And this time, I wasn't having a nightmare.

Kyuxo stood beside me and then whispered into my ear:

"I know you're looking for him."

I couldn't speak. I couldn't move. I could only listen with terrified ears.

"I know you want to kill him for what he did to you..." she walked to my other side and kept whispering in my other ear. "I know you want him dead for all the harm he's caused. You want to drive your sword through him and watch him bleed... You want to see him in agony. You want to see him stare at Hell's pit before falling into it... And you still hold on to the thought that you're not evil. 'A change of scenery', you say... you hang out with that crew to neglect a single fact: you're evil."

What the heck was wrong with me? Why couldn't I say a word? What was it about Kyuxo that rendered me helpless? How could she know all those things? Whatever the answer was, my fear kept me from thinking rationally. Fear and sadness haunted my heart and thoughts. I couldn't even be mad at the fiend... Those feelings blocked every action that I tried to do.

She remained silent for a while. I felt her eyes on me, studying me... Her complete attention was upon me. She didn't even turn to Maici when she regained consciousness and struggled to get back to her feet.

"Baiken..." my companion murmured in a nearly inaudible voice.

But then, Kyuxo put her hand on my cheek as she leaned to my ear and said: "I can guide you to him."

I then managed to turn my head. I looked at her in silence and practically urged her to keep speaking with my stare. Her evil eyes had captured me... she smiled triumphantly and went on.

"Together, we can track him down... Your so-called 'companions' are slowing you down, aren't they? They're just messing things up. If it were not for them, you would've already found him..."

"Baiken, don't listen to her..." Maici said in a low voice. She was still unable to take action against the Nobody.

"Delays, delays..." the fiend continued. "We can get to him in no time. Take revenge on what he did to you. He deserves to have your steel in his entrails... you know it."

"Baiken... snap out of it...!"

"I can give you that which you want the most," Kyuxo whispered. Her voice was so tempting... even beautiful. "I only ask one thing in return."

"...What...?" I murmured, practically pleading her to spill it out.

"Kill Ukyo," she said and her eyes shone as if blood was passing right through her irises. "They are delaying your revenge... She's delaying my plans. Get rid of her, and I'll guide you to that man."

"...No..." I murmured, softly shaking my head. For a moment, her influence upon me grew weak... yet not enough to allow me to fight back.

"Baiken, get away from her!!" Maici yelled, this time at the top of her lungs. I then heard a blast and fell to the ground. My companion had just shot at the Nobody with her gun.

Kyuxo barely evaded the shot. She then unleashed another shockwave upon Maici, knocking her against the wall, causing her to drop her weapon again. The Nobody ran to her and held her by the neck. Maici tried to break free, but the enemy's grip was most fierce. And I still couldn't move. I was still too afraid.

"A.N.I. piece of shit," Kyuxo mocked. "Think the B.C.U. fuckers are your biggest problem? Think again... You'll soon face terror."

"Maici!! What's going on?!" called BlackMercy's voice from behind the bedroom door, followed by loud bangs on it.

"You'll all die," the Nobody jeered. "It's a shame I won't be around to see that."

"Maici! Hang on!!" yelled Twist. The bangs on the door became louder and fiercer.

"We're on our way!!" added Leon's voice. His sword then began to cut through the door.

The fiend released Maici, who coughed and gasped for breath as soon as she hit the ground. Kyuxo turned to me and said with a smile: "Think about it." And then, she was engulfed by a dark portal and disappeared.

The bedroom door came crashing down. TA's members stepped out and surrounded the premises carefully, their guns ready to unleash their bullets upon any threat. My companions followed; they scanned every corner of the room with the utmost care. All of them were awake... even Ukyo. Ziggy went next to Maici and helped her up.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"W-we were a-attacked," she said between coughs. "She l-left..."

"Was it a B.C.U. spy?" Dan growled while still searching the place.

"No... It was s-something else."

"Are you okay?" asked Marmalade Jam in a low voice as she put her hand on my shoulder.

The Nobody's power over me had faded. Nevertheless, I still felt afraid. It was as if I had just wakened up from the most horrible dream I've ever had... for I had lived through it again.

"My God, you're pale..." Jam pointed out as she saw my face.

"What? Are you all right?" Ranma asked as they all approached me.

"...I need water..." I muttered, getting on my feet.

"What happened here?" dryly asked Octavius.

"It was a w-woman in a d-dark cloak," Maici explained.

"A Nobody," Leon guessed. "Was that what it was, Baiken?"

"I need water," I repeated, making my way to the kitchen sink. I let the water flow and repeatedly scooped it with my hand, drinking as much as I could. After that, I splashed my face with it many times.

Silence fell on the room as they all looked at me, I think. Maici finally said: "She knocked me out... When I regained consciousness, I saw her talking to Baiken... and Baiken seemed even more terrified than now."

"What did she tell her?" Leon asked.

"I'm not sure," she honestly replied. "I was still too woozy to listen to them."

"Are you okay, Baiken?" asked Ukyo. I noticed she was by my side and had gently tapped my shoulder. I turned to her and upon looking at her face instinct kicked in.

"Stay away from me!!" I yelled and jumped back in horror.

"Easy!" our companions cried as Ukyo stared at me with a stupefied expression.

"Baiken, it's me!" she said. "What happened to you?"

"It... I..." I stuttered. I did my best to fix the ideas inside my head and tried to calm down. I took a deep breath and reached for my bottle. I drank a mouthful of Tequila and then leaned against a wall and slowly sat down. "I'm sorry," I said.

"What did that Nobody do to you?" Ukyo asked, kneeling before me.

"Ukyo... she..." I began, but was suddenly unable to find the words.

"Ukyo, she looked just like you," Maici declared.

"Huh?" the girl muttered and turned to Maici, unable to believe her words. "What do you mean?"

"There has to be something wrong with Sora's theory about Nobodies," I finally managed to say. Still, I couldn't look at her in the eyes. "Because this one claimed that she was your Nobody."

"My Nobody?!" she squealed. "...Oh, God..."

"The situation with Organization XIII is worse than we thought," Leon said. "How could they make a Nobody out of Ukyo?"

"She did get her heart stolen in the past," Ranma observed.

"But Wilheim recovered it!" Sakura said. "And—wait a minute... Does that mean that Wilheim... and Sora... have Nobodies, too?"

"That can't be possible... can it?" Ryoga murmured.

They began to talk amongst themselves and explained with further detail the whole deal about the Heartless and the Nobodies to the TA members. Ziggy was checking that Maici was completely unharmed as she ordered her team to seal every entrance and to warn the nation that an intruder had managed to sneak into the city. Not that it mattered much... Kyuxo would surely be nowhere to be found.

Ukyo was about to go and talk to her friends (or to go to bed... perhaps she was now sober – the scare might've had something to do with that – but I'm sure she had at least a bit of a hangover), yet before she could do so, I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to me so she could listen to what I had to say.

"Ukyo..." I whispered. "She said she would lead me to that man..."

She turned to me and stared at me silently for a few moments.

"The creator of the gears?" she murmured back, to which I nodded without saying a word. "She knew about your family?"

Dang... Even though she was sober, her breath still stunk... But I didn't give crap about it then, obviously.

"Yes..."

"I see... Well, whatever the case, don't listen to anything one of those bastards tells you. I may not know where he is... but I promise I'll do my best to help you find him, okay?"

I looked away and sighed.

"Don't worry," I replied. "It's not like I was planning on joining her." I paused and then added: "I'm sorry I pushed you away like that."

"I know why you did that... It's okay," she answered, with a sweet smile.

I wanted to hate the Nobody... However, I simply couldn't. Not because she reminded me of Ukyo (I mean, she obviously did), but because of what she had promised... If only she had asked something else in return.

I'd killed people before, but only in self-defense. I had never murdered in cold-blood, despite what everyone thought. And I would never kill an innocent person. My desire for revenge is great, yet not that consuming. I wouldn't even kill the fucking vampire for something like that, for crying out loud. And to spill the blood of Ukyo, who was one of the few friends I'd ever had, was out of the question.

No... If I ever met Kyuxo again... I'd beg her to ask for something else. My few friends were important, no doubt... Yet so was my vengeance.


	13. Chapter 12: No Man's Land

Chapter Twelve: No Man's Land

Hey, guys. It's me again.

This is the fourth chapter in the Air Rivals' 'saga'. It's a tad shorter, but I liked how it turned out. Once again, this is dedicated to... well, you all know.

Before I begin with the chapter, I'd like to quickly address Minako88. The message is this: please, have a bit more patience! :) I know you're really excited about... you know what... but I did ask you to give me a few more chapters to wrap this up. I promise I'll work as fast as I can to finish this, but in the mean time, just bare with me a while, okay? :)

One note about this chapter: most of the chapter will be narrated by an 'omnipresent' narrator. Choosing one specific narrator from the characters, or even two, was just too complicated and would really confuse the situation. Upon the final part of the chapter, one of the characters will function as a relater, but it'll be the smallest part of the story. This will possibly be the last time I recur to this sort of storyteller.

Well, that's it for now. The next chapter will be the last of this saga. Enjoy, guys :)

_Chapter __Twelve: No Man's Land_

_(Denebola – space station)_

"We've got to hurry, Atermel," Suicidal murmured. "We're lucky no A.N.I. have come so far. We should stop tempting fate."

"Almost done..." Atermel said in a low voice.

Both soldiers remained silent as they discretely downloaded the latest transmissions that had been stored in Denebola's main computer.

At that time, the sun's light did not reach that part of the moon. The only things that kept the pilots from absolute darkness were the lights that illuminated both the exterior and the interior of the space station. They were in an island of light surrounded by a sea of shadows. The waves they formed remained stationary as mountains. Robotic ships flew quietly about the station, not minding the Wulfpack members...

Not one of their sworn enemies was in sight. They had all inexplicably retired from the moon, allowing the two brave B.C.U. to sneak into the station. However, the A.N.I.'s sudden withdrawal had only worried them more. It was not like their foes to leave a station so unprotected.

More the reason, they presumed, to conclude their mission as soon as possible.

"Okay, it's nearly at an end," Atermel said. "Still no sign of the A.N.I.?"

"No," whispered Suicidal. "Still, I feel that they could arrive at any moment. And if they don't get here, then that may mean that there's something even worse going on."

"Yeah, I understand. As soon as I'm done, we'll listen to the transmissions," Atermel mumbled, wishing that the enemy transmissions could be decoded without having to download them directly from an A.N.I. source.

After a few moments, the pilot finished his doing and saved the recently stolen information in a special device.

"About time," Suicidal sighed. "Let's listen to it," he added as he plugged into the device a pair of headphones. They grabbed one each and pressed them against their ears.

"This must be the latest transmission," Atermel said.

"Yeah, most likely..."

They remained silent for a few moments, paying close attention to their enemies' messages. Yet then, their eyes were filled by dread, as were their hearts.

"A full scale attack?!" they both exclaimed, and then Suicidal asked: "How long ago was this issued?"

"An hour ago, according to this data," Atermel answered. "They still must be organizing... We caught this just in time!" the pilot added, trying to find a positive aspect on the dreadful news.

"'Just in time' is very relative," Suicidal muttered. "It'll take us an hour at least to organize a counteroffensive, too. Not to mention that it'll take us at least – and I'm being very positive here – fifteen minutes to broadcast this message to our nation."

"Well... in that case, let's get out of here and town it."

Without a second thought, both warriors raced to their ships and quickly flew away from the Denebola space station. Once they were certain they were far away enough that no enemy would intercept their ships would emit upon teleportation, they activated their Town portals and vanished in the darkness of space.

_(Arlington – Tactical Aggression's Headquarters)_

Things were very quiet inside TA's headquarters. Last night's incident had driven the pilots into a restless watch. Moreover, many of the brigade's members had still not reported to headquarters after nearly a week. Things were starting to look quite grim...

Those who had faced the Heartless and the Nobodies before were now very worried about their other friends as well. They had not heard any news about them for nearly two days. They would have expected that at least one pilot would have made a general broadcast about finding strangers within the planet. Yet so far, this had not been the case. The heroes were starting to believe that the B.C.U. might have captured them. And if that had been the case, who knows what they could have done to them.

Baiken was now quite calm and was back in her usual mood. Though their companions ignored it, her encounter with Kyuxo had put a lot on her mind. However, as always, she was doing a very good job at hiding this. Nevertheless, this was not the case with Ukyo, who was extremely worried about her beloved... not to mention that she had a killer hangover.

"Here, take this," Siachen said as he gave Ukyo a cup of coffee. "It'll make you feel better."

"Thanks..." she muttered, taking a zip. "I'm so worried about them. What if the B.C.U. got to them and killed the guys who saved them?"

"Try to remain positive, Ukyo," Maici said, putting a caring hand on her shoulder.

"Our friends are very strong, Ukyo, you know that," Leon added. "You know better than us that Wilheim won't get captured without a fight."

"Yeah, Ukyo... Actually, I'd be sorry for the B.C.U. that tries to take them captive," Jam added. "All of them are really powerful. Even Sora, and he's just a little kid."

"I know, but the B.C.U. use ships..." Ukyo said. "A brigade could've captured them... What if—"

"Okay, shut up, Ukyo," Baiken intervened, getting up from her seat and walking to her. Surprisingly, unlike anyone had guessed, she was not angry. Rather than scaring the girl into silence, she seemed willing to help. "Here," she added, offering Ukyo her trusty bottle. "It has tequila in it. Have a drink – but just one. It'll help your headache and to calm you the heck down."

"Thanks, I guess..." she mumbled and took a zip, followed by another zip of coffee. "Sorry... I just can't stop worrying about Wilheim, you know."

"Your boyfriend might be clumsy as hell, but he's resourceful," Baiken said. "Take it easy."

At that moment, VR4, who had gone to gather some information about the recent events that had taken place, came into the headquarters. He had a grim expression and his lips were sealed – he had grim news to report. Everyone noticed this and immediately became worried.

"What's happened, VR4?" Maici asked.

"I just learned something..." he answered in a low voice. "It's about your friends," he added, looking at Leon, Octavius, and the others.

"Oh, God..." Ukyo whimpered, on the verge of tears. Jam hastily went to her side and held her hand. Their skins turned pale as VR4 took a deep breath and announced:

"One of our spies recently came back from a mission... He said that, during his stay in Tylent Jungle, he saw an aircraft descend upon the planet. A group of B.C.U. captured them – a brigade called Wulfpack."

"Oh, crap," BlackMercy muttered. "Those guys..."

"They took them to Bygeniou city," VR4 concluded.

"Are they still alive?" Octavius asked.

"We don't know," VR4 said. "All we know is that they took them to the city."

"Goddamn it," Ukyo mumbled, covering her face with her hands. Most of her friends went to her side and patter her back, head, and shoulders.

"Don't worry, Ucchan," Ranma said. "It's going to be okay." He knew he had to stay calm for his friend, but he was actually terrified as well, for his beloved too was among their missing companions. The sole thought of losing her shattered his heart.

"Okay, guys: we've got ourselves a new mission," Maici determinately announced, getting up from her seat. "We're going to Bygeniou city and rescue their friends."

"What?" the rest of TA's members mumbled with a confused breath, while Ukyo and her friends looked at her with a puzzled, yet grateful glance.

"Maici... going into the city just like that... that's just plain suicide," Cayenne murmured.

"No, it isn't", Maici retorted. "We've got spies within the city in broad daylight, speaking to other B.C.U. pilots as they were their friends. Infiltrating the city isn't that complicated. Think about it: the B.C.U. also have spies here."

"One thing is just hanging around, gathering information from unsuspecting B.C.U.," Twist argued. "Barging into a prison and getting prisoners out is a whole other thing."

"It's never been done before," Honrar added.

"Mostly because B.C.U. usually don't take prisoners," Maici replied. "That's why I believe those guys are still alive and that we might have a chance to help them."

"But Maici..." Siachen intervened. "Flying to bloody Bygeniou after an attack like the one we just went through is reckless. We can't afford to lose any men..."

"Listen, guys," Djneff said, looking at Leon. "It's not that we don't want to help you... it's just that it's way too dangerous to pull a stunt like that."

"Fair enough," Leon replied. "In that case, just point us the way to Bygeniou city. It's not your obligation to help us rescue our friends, but it's our duty to get them out of whatever prison they're in."

The brigade fell silent and looked at one another. What their newest companions were going to attempt would certainly lead them to a certain death. BlackMercy decided that, although painful, the best solution would be to talk them out of such a plan. He took a deep breath and said in a murmur:

"Guys, what you are planning to do is like jumping off a cliff and expect to walk away without a scratch."

This statement however, disturbed Ukyo very much, who got up from her seat and declared with a trembling voice:

"Wilheim has saved my life more than once. He traveled to hell to rescue me: and that's not a euphemism," she paused for a moment and then added: "We love each other with all our hearts. There's no freaking way I'm not going to help him now that he needs me. It's my turn, now. If I don't make it, at least I'll die knowing that I did my best to save him. I'll meet him again – in this life or in the next," she assured.

BlackMercy sighed as Ukyo sat down and covered her face with both hands once more. No one said a thing for a few moments, unsure of what to think. But Maici's resolve was unbreakable and she spoke again.

"We're going," she said. "We can all do this. It's difficult – granted. But it's not impossible..." She then walked to Ukyo and kneeled before her. She gently pulled her hands away from her face, making her look into her eyes. Ukyo had already begun to cry, yet she was doing her best not to sob. "We'll get your boyfriend back. I promise," Maici assured.

Ukyo smiled and nodded. Embracing Maici, she whispered:

"Thank you."

As if on cue, the city's speakers disrupted their conversation. The nation leader's voice boomed: a calling to war was being issued.

"Attention, Arlington warriors," he said. "The B.C.U. attacked Relic yesterday, destroying our target – the mighty Shrine – and killing several of our beloved trainees."

"'Beloved'—? Oh, fuck you, Jester," Djneff growled. Maici turned to him and signaled him to quiet down, to which he replied: "Please! He doesn't give a crap about anyone but himself!"

"Listen, please," she said.

"We cannot suffer the B.C.U. to take liberties such as these. That is why I call you, my warriors. It is time we let the enemy what his place is. Ready your ships: let's punish the Bygeniou scum for their actions. A massive counterattack... And glory to Arlington!" And so the transmission ended.

"He's never good at giving speeches," Cayenne said as if wanting to explain their nation's leader attitude to their new companions, yet this issue was not destined to be discussed.

"Fucking LND," Djneff grumbled. "That freaking offensive is just a dumb-shit maneuver to try to make us all forget that we didn't even hear a word from them on our latest defense."

"'Legends Never Die'..." Twist groused. "'Losers Numbskull Douches' is more like it."

"Despite our personal feelings towards LND, we're not looking at the bigger picture here," Maici said. "A major attack means that most of the B.C.U. will be distracted which will, in turn, give us chance to sneak into their city and get their friends out of there."

Those who had been upset by the nation leader's message previously fell silent and looked at one another with hesitant eyes. They realized that their survival chances – should they attempt the mission – had just dramatically climbed. Nevertheless, a few problems still remained.

"If we're going to launch a major attack, the B.C.U. will have people everywhere for sure," Dan guessed. "Getting past them will still be quite a challenge."

"Not to mention that we're going to have a lot of trouble with the LND assess..." Djneff added.

Yet as they mentioned these issues, they realized that neither of them had stopped them in the past.

"We've outsmarted the B.C.U. many times before," Maici argued. "And about LND, I thought you guys hated them?"

Once more, they glanced at one another. After a few instants, they smiled and nodded.

"I guess we do hate them," Siachen chuckled.

"So that means you'll help us?" Sakura excitedly asked.

"Yeah... I guess you might say Maici found our balls," Twist laughed.

"Figuratively speaking," Maici giggled shyly.

"Then let's get going," Dan said. "I'll take a couple of helpers..."

"Clones?" Honrar muttered. "They'll be most welcome, no doubt."

"To the ships, then."

And so they quickly left the headquarters and made way to their ships. A glitter of light shone within Ukyo's heart, bringing her hope, as she thought to herself: 'We're coming, baby...'

_(Bygeniou – Wulfpack's Headquarters)_

Oblivious of the A.N.I.'s plans, the Wulfpack were taking it easy. However, Sora and his friends were not precisely in high spirits. Not only was Felicia still depressed because of the life she had taken earlier, but they were also worried about their missing companions, unaware that they, along with TA, were getting ready to save them from their 'captivity'.

The young Keyblade master stared at the clear sky from the balcony of the building where the brigades' headquarters were. He let out a sigh at the thought of his lost friends. Nevertheless, the kid was well aware that Leon, Octavius, Ukyo, and the others could very well take care of themselves. His thoughts revolved around Riku and Kairi. He wanted to let their friends know that he was safe; he had not seen them in the longest time.

Donald and Goofy soon joined him. They looked at each other and smiled faintly, yet friendly. They did not cross any words: Sora knew that the duck and the knight were also worried about their friends and their king. Donald also missed his girlfriend awfully. They all stared at the sky, thinking about the moment when they would meet with their loved ones, should it come.

Moments later, Wilheim and Siegfried decided to keep them company. However, the young men were unable to share a quiet moment with their friends: they needed to talk.

"How are you guys holding up?" Siegfried asked.

"Just okay, I guess," Sora answered. "And you?"

"As expected..."

"What about you, Wilheim?" Donald asked.

"Why say the obvious?" the young man replied. "You know very well what it is that troubles my heart the most."

"They've gone missing for a long while," Goofy sighed. "I just hope no A.N.I. caught them..."

"Yeah... and speaking about enemies, it seems that the Heartless have been pretty quiet in this world, huh?" Siegfried said.

"To be completely honest, it is not the Heartless that which worries me the most, nor the A.N.I.," Wilheim declared. "I am actually more concerned about the enmity within this very own city's walls. I had never felt so threatened by a companion."

"Ah, don't worry Wilheim," Donald said. "That MasterMenace is just a big palooka. He won't do anything to us."

"Would you believe that even after seeing him commit murderer without hesitation or remorse? I must say that I am really beginning to think that he could be a herald of the Heartless. His presence troubles me. Moreover, I feel that the Wulfpack may be risking themselves too much by allowing us to stay with them. It would be best if we left right now... I do not want to cause them more trouble."

"Speaking of which, here comes Jazzy," Sora said. The five friends turned to their current leader and greeted him with fake enthusiasm. "Hey, Jazzy."

"Hey, guys," answered the Wulfpack leader who instantly noticed his friends' worried eyes. "What's up with you? You guys all right?"

"Yeah, just worrying about the usual," Sora sighed.

"I see," Jazzy mused. He approached Wilheim, who was seemingly the most distraught of the five, and asked him in a low voice: "Are you okay, Will?"

"Yes, thank you," he lied and added: "How is Felicia doing?"

"She's still depressed," Jazzy informed. "She's not left the brig room in a while. We even offered her a few drinks to get her mind off that... But she said no. I guess she's a sober person," he concluded with a soft smile.

"Shame on her," Siegfried chuckled in an attempt to take his friends' mind off their worries. Obviously, it did not do much good.

"Come on, guys, seriously," Jazzy insisted. "What's going on? You're worried about your buddies? About MasterMenace? What is it?"

"About all those things," Sora finally said. "Wilheim says he's worried about the inner conflict, but my mind is on the Heartless. Those monsters haven't made a move... Something worse than them could be at hand. Maybe the Nobodies are planning something..."

"If Organization XIII were here, we would already know," Donald grumbled.

"We'll all deal with those things together," Jazzy assured. "Whatever comes, we can handle it. I mean, from what you've said, you've already beaten the Heartless in the past, right?"

"Still, thinking about facing them within ships isn't exactly our cup of tea," Sora argued. "The only one of us mad enough to do such a thing is Felicia, and right now... Well, you get the point."

"Yo, what are you all up to?" interrupted Adrian, who appeared walking on the balcony's bit of ceiling. He remained there and sat down, his hair and raincoat falling into the air. "You all seem too shook up. Come on! You have to take it easy. It's not like this is the first time we've been apart."

"Precisely: I always worry when that happens," Wilheim answered.

"Okay, Will..." the vampire said as he rose to his feet and walked toward him, his legs still on the ceiling. "Do you really believe anything bad is going to happen? We've been apart time and again and we always find each other. And do you know why that is? Because our friends are strong as bulls! There's no reason to get all that upset."

"You may never know," Wilheim sighed. "Last time I almost lost Ukyo..."

"You know what your problem is? Everyone's problem, in fact..." he said as he finally landed on the ground. "You worry too much. Try to take it easy right now. When the time for worrying comes, then worry. Not sooner, got it?"

"Yeah, he's right, guys," Jazzy added. "We'll help you with your friends, but you've got to relax. Come on, I'll buy you all something to eat. How do burritos sound?"

"I guess it's okay," Sora chuckled. "Okay, we'll go then."

Yet just as they were making their way to a restaurant, Jazzy's communicator picked up a signal. It appeared that Atermel and Suicidal had finally gotten back from their mission. Wulfpack's leader picked up the transmitter and said, with a smile:

"See? Everything works out all right if you don't think that it'll go wrong." Then, he spoke into the communicator. "What's up, my loves? How did it go?"

"Jazzy, you have to warn the nation: the A.N.I. are going to attack," Atermel hastily said.

"Whoa, easy, there..." Jazzy murmured, stopping short as he heard these words. "Okay... say that again?"

"We picked up one transmission," Suicidal added. "They're organizing a major counteroffensive because of TS's attack on Relic."

"That's just... crap," Jazzy sighed, most displeased.

"You've got to warn Milky so he can prepare our defense," Atermel said.

"Okay. You guys warn the rest of the brigade and get ready. Contact Pablosky and Starsiege and wait for the leader's orders."

"Roger. We'll meet you in the field," they said and the call came to an end.

"Something wrong, Jazzy?" asked Siegfried.

"The A.N.I. are going to strike with a huge force," he revealed, to their dismay. "We have to hurry and warn the leader."

"Great timing," Adrian grumbled. "The sun will rise in about two ours... I know the windshield protects me and all, but I haven't slept in a while..."

"If we meet them in Bark, you won't have to worry about the sun," Wulfpack's leader informed. "The smoke that rises from the burnt buildings in that city is so thick that no rays of light can make it across the thick, black clouds."

"...Quite an unsettling scenery," Wilheim groaned.

"Come on, we've got to hurry."

_(__The Dens)_

Upon hearing the A.N.I.'s plan, Milky immediately ordered every B.C.U. to board their ships and race together through their entire territory to wage a deadly battle. All of their aircrafts were stationed on Den B – an immense pipe that, despite its monstrous size and length, was built with one goal: to concentrate the enemy forces. The Den kept any foes close to one another, drastically limiting their mobility and places to which they could fly. Unfortunately for the B.C.U., the A.N.I. had also a Den of their own – Den A.

Nevertheless, the B.C.U., knowing that their enemies were on their way to unleash an onslaught upon their city, were not foolish enough to venture into their foes' Den. They remained on their territory, nervously waiting for the A.N.I. to go into the immense pipe, trusting on luck more than their strategy; for Arlington's army had invaded their home many a time and they had set up their defenses in a similar manner more than once. They usually succeeded in keeping the foe out of their territory; but when the A.N.I.'s force was too great, it was as unstoppable as a mighty storm that sweeps away a snake's nest.

And it was a good thing that they did not go into their opponents' Den, for if they had done that, the A.N.I., who had also gathered in full force, would have obliterated them. B.C.U. had lost many battles of late and the A.N.I. were confident on defeating their enemies yet again. Completely taking the city was nigh impossible, yet they knew that sooner or later it would happen...

Luckily, the B.C.U. had gathered just as many pilots as the A.N.I. and in a smaller lapse of time. The Wulfpack had the nation's gratitude – for once. Every one of their pilots was there, including the disheartened Felicia. After giving it some thought, she came to the conclusion that taking a life could not possibly be as bad as letting one of her friends die by the A.N.I.'s hands.

For his part, Wilheim was more preoccupied about Ukyo than the upcoming battle. He was unaware that in most of his friends' hearts, a terrible feeling had been sowed. As they look at their companions, they could not help to think that the A.N.I. had outnumbered them last time three to one. What would happen now that there were one hundred and fifty ships on their side? The Wulfpack had repeatedly told them that the enemy most of the times outnumbered them... Never before had they felt that they were diving into a sea of fire more than at that moment. Adrian, however, was confident, as always (despite his declarations of him being a 'realist'), that they would find victory one way or the other. The vampire may have been mad – but his optimism would prove vital in the merciless war.

Ryu, however, had another thought on his mind.

"Will..." he said to the pilot in a low voice, covering the communicator with his hand as he did. "The B.C.U. is one side, right?"

"...That is what I have heard," Wilheim answered with a puzzled glance, shutting down the transmitter for a moment.

"And A.N.I. is on the other, right?"

"I know you are trying to make a point, Ryu; but I fail to see what it is."

"This is a war: from what I've seen, there are no good guys and bad guys. The Wulfpack were the ones that rescued us: if the A.N.I. had found us, we would be fighting on their side."

A chill ran down Wilheim's back upon this realization. He let out a sigh and murmured:

"You're probably right."

Then, Ryu whispered with a most troubled tone: "What if the A.N.I. found our friends? What if they weren't taken prisoners?"

Wilheim turned to his friend with sheer horror in his eyes. His mouth dried as Ryu urged him with his stare to emit an answer.

"...It would be most likely... that they were fighting alongside them," the lad finally uttered.

"Will, we have to be careful about who we shoot," Ryu said.

"I do not mind dying by Ukyo's hand... but if I kill her..." The young man could not say more. The very idea of shooting at his beloved stopped his heart.

"Let's warn our friends," the fighter suggested.

"What about Wulfpack? What about the nation?"

"They wouldn't understand: the A.N.I. destroyed their city. They will kill whoever carries an enemy flag on their ship."

"Dear God..." Wilheim muttered as he opened a private channel and contacted each and every one of his friends...

At that very same time, the A.N.I. were gathering under Jester's command. Tactical Aggression had only revealed their plan to Mosfet's brigade and to ShabelleTiger. These two warriors offered their help as decoys for the B.C.U. without hesitation. They even volunteered to accompany them to Bygeniou, but Maici stated that her brigade would get into a lot of trouble for doing this and that she did not wish to get more people into trouble.

Leon, Octavius, Baiken, and the others obviously did not find themselves in the same predicament as their friends on Wulfpack. They trusted on the information that had been given to them and all their thoughts were centered on getting to Bygeniou and rescuing their friends. The heroes had begun to question the affiliation of the army they were in, but after they heard that their friends had been captured, there was not a doubt in their minds that they were on the right side.

"All right, guys," Maici said. "As soon as the attack starts, we fly as high as we can and then make a dive into the portal to wherever. We'll have to hope that there are no tank barricades there. Once we're on the other side, we burn our boosters all the way to Stone Ruins. We'll land our aircrafts near there and approach Bygeniou City on foot to avoid getting shot."

"Let's just hope they buy that we're B.C.U.'s who got downed and survived the crash..." Twist sighed.

"I just hope I won't puke because of Bygeniou City's air," Dan grumbled.

"We'll make it through. Just follow the plan, guys," Ziggy said.

"Think you can handle this rush, were-bear?" Baiken asked.

"As long as you stop pestering me, we will be fine," Octavius replied.

"Let's just worry about getting to Stone Ruins; then we'll worry about how to get our friends out," Jam added.

"No way are they going to even touch me," Ukyo firmly said. "We'll get my Wilheim, Sora, Siegfried, and the others out."

"We only have to wait for the leader's signal," Mosfet said. "It'd be nice to send out some scouts, first."

"The LND guys are obnoxious, but they're not that stupid," ShabelleTiger chuckled. "Relax: they'll send a team out."

And as if on cue, Jester pointed out a reconnoitering party to make sure that there were not any B.C.U. waiting for them. Despite their confidence on their transmitters, they knew that it was very possible that the enemy was aware of their strike. Indeed, they were...

Meanwhile, Milky had opted to do the very same thing. SupraBoy, along with three more B-gears who had a cloaking device installed on their gears, were to investigate if the A.N.I. had not already invaded Bark.

As they planned their incursion, Wilheim felt that, while he could not tell the Wulfpack about their predicament, he needed to know that he would not accidentally shoot one of his friends.

"Jazzy," he said. "It is mandatory to register your ship with your name, correct?"

"Huh? You mean our true name?" Jazzy asked.

"Yes."

"Oh, of course not, no way," the pilot answered, to Wilheim's panic. "You can name your ship whatever you want and it'll turn up like that in the radars. But you don't have to name it after you. I think only you guys were the ones who did that... Oh, and Araya. That's actually his real name."

"Last name," Araya clarified.

"Right, sorry... But I'm not called JazzyJet. Balance's real name is not Balence; he's not DjFlaco; she's not EvaRaine... and – for God's sake – his real name is not UpDaBut."

"Yo!" UpDaBut exclaimed and they all laughed. Wilheim, however, merely put a quick grin on his face and then became as serious as the rest of his friends.

"Okay, guys, it's time," Milky firmly said. "Scouts, move out. Good luck."

SupraBoy, a second pilot whose ship's name was LittleDagger, Pablosky, and Amouth made their way to the portal to Bark. They disappeared shortly after and nothing was heard from them until thirty seconds later.

"The entrance is clear," they reported.

"Good," Milky sighed in relief. "What else?"

And again, for half a minute, everything was quiet as a graveyard...

"We're flying high altitude. The city seems clear."

Yet at that time, A.N.I.'s scouts had already done their work and Jester ordered everyone to move into Bark. They all came through the warp like a swarm of hornets. The M-gears were hounds who smelled their enemy as they materialized on the destroyed city.

"My radar is picking something..." Ziggy murmured. It did not take him longer than a second to know what was going on. "B.C.U. scouts!! They're flying over the portal, at ten thousand feet!!"

"Kill those sons of bitches!!" Jester roared.

Thirty seconds after the leader of Arlington's army, a new transmission reached B.C.U.'s ears.

"The A.N.I.!! They're coming from Den A on full force!! They know we're here!! Hurry, help!!"

"Onto war!!" Milky cried and the Bygeniou army swiftly moved through the warp like ant soldiers ready to storm an opposing colony.

Sora and Felicia were among the first of the B.C.U. to enter Bark City. Like Jazzy had said, a heavy cloud of smoke forever blocked the sun's rays. That did not mean that the city was bathed in darkness: the eternal storm caused by the polluted air rained lightning and thunders. Moreover, the cloud of smoke had a greenish color that effectively illuminated the barren wasteland below them. There were hundreds of destroyed buildings, their rubble housing many burnt skeletons. Outside of the pilots' ships, the air reeked of death and fire. The wind still carried the ashes of the fallen constructions and of the burnt dead bodies. The only things alive on the ground were the rocket and missile turrets that the B.C.U. had once installed to protect themselves from their enemies. The nuclear blast had not destroyed the defenses; yet they were eternally malfunctioning, shooting their projectiles at everything that moved. On the air, there were other flying vessels from the other races of Phillon. They did not represent much danger, and neither did the rocket and missile launchers. The real danger came from the enemy armies and hatred was their most powerful weapon.

To the Keyblade bearer and the cat-woman, the swarm flying to them was the most terrifying they had ever seen. Their mouths dried as the A.N.I. ships that chased the scouts even rose dust from the ground with their roaring engines and their deadly speed.

"Oh, my God..." Felicia said in a drowned voice. The only word she could think to describe the scene she was witnessing was 'Armageddon'.

"With so many ships, it will be difficult to spot one of our friends' names, if they are with the A.N.I.!" Sora groaned in despair.

"Right now focus on not getting yourself killed!" Ken cried. "Come on, let's show 'em what we're made of!"

And so the two armies clashed. Machine guns, lasers, and missiles; bombs, and cannon fire: they all quickly became part of an orchestra that played a symphony of loathing and death.

It was impossible for Tactical Aggression to stick to their plan during the first moments of the battle. Most of the enemies about fired at Maici. It was necessary for her to turn her ship around and fly as far as possible from her enemies. VR4, Shadaoh, and Ukyo flew at those flying behind her and bombed them without a second thought, forcing almost all of them to leave the battle field. They were aided by the A-gears, who unleashed their snaring beams upon the opposing vessels, lethally hindering their movement.

Wulfpack was fighting as bravely as ever, yet it became quite clear to them that their new companions were not battling as well as they had during their last confrontation with the A.N.I. They could understand why Felicia was flying so terribly, but they reckoned the others had no excuse for making such catastrophic mistakes. Wilheim was beyond a doubt the one who had messed up the most: he had driven his tank right under a B-gear formation; tried to shoot down an I-gear by chasing him when he had been told that the fighters should only be engaged from the ground, and he had tried to engage on overwhelmingly powerful M-gears whose armor bounced off Wilheim's shots as if they were made of rubber. Araya, DjFlaco, and Longtom had rescued him all those times and Ryu had repeatedly told him to focus.

"I'll keep an eye on the radar," he had said. "You just focus on keeping us alive! Stop trying to commit suicide!"

Their other friends were not doing much better. Siegfried did not show much deterioration, for he never came to be a very good pilot. Sora, however, nearly ended up crashing his ship against the mountains while trying to get away of groups of enemies. Adrian was the only one who fought decently, yet he never took his eyes off the radar...

Shadaoh, who had brought two clones to the battle, had already forced three ships to retreat. His creations remained hidden amongst the fallen buildings, waiting for the right moment to rush into one unsuspecting enemy and utterly kill him or her.

It was not long before Gallager spotted him. The mere look of him made his blood boil.

'This time,' he thought to himself. 'This time, I'm going to make him pay... This time, I'm going to kill him!!' "Shadaoh is mine!! Everyone, get the hell out of my way!!" he roared and practically threw his ship at what he considered to be his nemesis.

"Watch out, Shadaoh; Gallager is headed your way," warned BlackMercy.

"Him again..." Shadaoh groaned.

Shadaoh barrel-rolled and avoided the barrage of bombs Gallager unleashed upon him. He turned around and started to fire against the opposing B-gear with his lasers while the B.C.U. tried to remain as far as possible from him, for he knew that if Shadaoh scored a volley, he would be in deadly trouble. Instead, he took his chances by running from him, relying on his shield to guard him from the weapon fire, waiting for the opportune moment to turn around and ambush him.

The Goons immediately began to bring panic to the younger pilots. Once again, DoubleEagle and Riitta relied on their heavy M-gears as they hunted down every gear they set their eyes on. As Araya saw this, he cursed them silently. Not only because they were after his comrades, but because of their reputation which, without apparent reason he thought, terrified the trainees.

Still, the experienced pilots not only did not fear the Goons: they detested them and wanted to see them burn. Among the B.C.U., it was said that one of the greatest trophies anyone could hope for was the head of DoubleEagle along with the rest of what would be left of his ship once it was destroyed. Because of this, the pilot became the primary target of most of the veteran combatants.

Ken and Adrian took advantage of the B-gears that were occupied trying to bomb the tanks in the battlefield. They sneaked behind the distracted pilots and let loose their cargo of explosives upon them before they realized that they had been ambushed. However, they never fired more than once, unless they saw that they had not done very much damage.

Of course, the primary overall targets were the M-gears, most specifically the inexperienced ones. Because of this, Donald and Goofy found themselves in a very serious predicament where the enemy ships saw them like a pack of lions at a young gazelle.

"Whoa! We're not going to last much longer!" Goofy screamed, getting ready to use their Town Portal.

"How about some help?!" Donald quacked hysterically.

"We're coming, guys!" Starsiege announced. He and Rhinoterox positioned themselves below them and started to scare all of the enemies away with their mighty cannons.

Above all, Starsiege was one of the most feared A-gears in B.C.U., and subsequently, one of the most targeted.

It came to pass that one of the gears that swooped from the heavens, aiming to attack Donald and Goofy, was Ukyo's. The girl, unbeknownst to her that her friends were inside the opposing aircraft (for they had wittily named their vessel "D&G"), unloaded a cargo of bombs upon them, damaging their ship badly.

"I almost got one!" she announced proudly.

"We're about to go down!" cried Goofy on a completely different frequency.

Luckily for the duck and the knight, JazzyJet was nearby and, upon Akane's warning, healed them before they took more damage. Starsiege then locked in on Ukyo and fired away.

The girl could swear that that every monstrous bullet that hit her ship was a meteorite. It took Starsiege less than ten shots to have Ukyo flying for cover. However, the pilot was not going to allow his enemy escape that easily. He turned on his snare ray, turning the girl's ship into a flying tortoise. Even then, Donald and Goofy were unable to look at her ship's name in their radar: she had flown too far away from them.

"Oh, no!" Ukyo screamed as every alarm inside her ship went off. "He snared me! Someone help me!"

"Hold on, Ukyo," VR4 murmured as he swooped onto Starsiege and bombed him. Starsiege's A-gear was all but in critical state, yet the sudden ambush made him lose his focus on Ukyo, allowing her to escape into the clouds.

Despite this, she was far from safe. Narue had witnessed the incident and had decided to intervene. She chased after Ukyo and moments later, the B-gear's alarms, which had been quieted moments earlier, suddenly echoed over and over again.

"What?!" Ukyo wailed, turning around to see the speedy I-gear on her tail. "Damn it! They're still after me! I need help!!"

"I'll be there in a minute, Ukyo!" BlackMercy groaned. "I just have to try and shake MasterMenace off my back!!"

"I'm coming, Ukyo!" said Jam as she headed her I-gear to the sky. There, she found a badly damaged Ukyo struggling to get away from Narue's ceaseless attacks. The B-gear was smoking and seemed that it would not be able to take much more hits. "Get that Town Portal ready, bitch..."

Jam's gunfire effectively made her lose focus on the girl. Instead of running, though, she turned around and unleashed her missiles upon the meddling I-gear.

"I hate these coward A.N.I.!!" Narue cursed. "If you wanna fight, stop trying to stab me in the back!"

Narue's superior skills and firepower soon turned the tables on Jam. The woman found herself running away from the superior pilot. Yet she was lucky, for Ukyo had decided to remain within the clouds for a few more moments. Upon seeing her companion on the verge of being killed, she rushed at Narue and damaged her ship with a cunning volley of bombs.

"Damn it!" Narue yelled. "Cowards... I need to get away from them!"

"She's retreating!" Jam sighed in relief. "Cayenne, please give us a hand. That Narue hurt us a lot..."

"Stay where you are," Cayenne said.

"I hate the A.N.I.," Narue kept growling. "They don't know how to fight unless they gang up on you."

"Who's attacking you, Narue?" asked JazzyJet.

"Some Tactical Aggression jerks I'd never seen before... Ukyo and Jam."

It would have been great if the new Wulfpack members would have heard this statement. Yet as Narue said these final words, Apocalypse's voice deafened the girl's voice on all transmitters.

"Narue, watch out!! Your boyfriend is coming for you!!"

"What?? Oh, not him again!"

WhiteHawkOne unexpectedly rushed out of a fight and aimed his guns at Narue. If not for Apocalypse's timely warning, the girl probably would have been forced to retreat. Yet now she was fully aware of the fiend, who over time had demonstrated especial hatred towards her (hence the 'boyfriend' local joke). She immediately evaded the missiles the Kill-on-sight unleashed and became locked in a dog-fight with him.

"You girls were lucky I was here to take that bitch off your backs. You'll thank me later," the cocky pilot stated.

"Shove it, WhiteHawkOne," Jam grumbled. "You just take advantage of ships that are half-damaged."

"WhiteQueerOne is an asshole and he'll never change, Marmalade Jam: stop paying attention to that piece of shit," Baiken ever so gently growled.

Meanwhile, Cayenne and Ziggy had successfully repaired Ukyo and Jam's ships. The two girls, ready for another go, set out together looking over each other's backs. For her part, Baiken had carefully studied every move her student had made and had always urged Octavius to watch over her whenever she sensed she was in trouble.

Yells overcame both frequencies. Some of the pilots cheered proudly as they announced their victory over an opponent; others cursed in anger as they were ambushed by their enemies and forced to retreat... and soon, some others wailed in horror as their ships nose-dived into the ground, became engulfed in a cloud of fire and smoke, and then their voices were heard no more.

The clouds began to acquire an eerie color unlike anything the B.C.U. or the A.N.I. had ever seen. A violet haze began to flood the battlefield, which caused the rocket and missile turrets to suddenly halt their fire. However, the pilots' hatred towards their enemies blinded from this phenomenon. Rage, fear, and madness ruled Bark: it had always been like that.

Sora and his friends were the only exceptions to this loathing. Hence, they were the only ones who noticed the strange change in the clouds and the advancing mist. The Keyblade master soon realized that so much hatred and death would soon attract the darkness they all knew so well.

"Guys, let's get out of here!" he yelled onto the communicator. No B.C.U. heeded his cry.

SupraBoy had been disabling a lot of dangerous enemy tanks. At that moment, he was on his way to try to defeat Mosfet, who was the most feared A-gear of the A.N.I.

"How many have you defeated, Supra?" asked Kobe.

"About ten," SupraBoy replied proudly. "I'm going to go after Mosfet. Watch my back, guys."

"I'm right behind you," DjFlaco said as he flew closely next to him.

SupraBoy dived onto Mosfet and bombed him. However, the A-gear pilot turned on the barrier and fended off all of the foe's projectiles. He aimed his turret at the Wulfpack and fired off. Even though SupraBoy had a much resilient armor on his vessel than Ukyo, he felt the same feeling upon being assaulted by the mighty tank.

"Goddamn it, I have to go!" His alarms went off as he turned away and tried to head to a friendly M-gear so he could remain within the battlefield. However, he soon noticed that his ship was in a terrible state. He would not be able to reach a medic in time. "Sorry, guys! I'm going to have to Town it!"

He activated his Town Portal. But he remained on the battlefield. He was puzzled at first... Yet after trying three times without success to escape Bark, he became desperate.

"This shit isn't working!!" he wailed. And Mosfet continued his assault without rest. "Guys!! The Town Portals aren't work—!!"

His transmission was cut off by his ship's explosion. His voice was lost forever. The Wulfpack, unable to believe what had just happened, kept shocked silence for a few moments. For his part, Mosfet merely limited himself to say in a low voice:

"SupraBoy is dead. I got him."

"...Mosfet... SON OF A BITCH!!" wailed UpDaBut with unadulterated rage and started to fly at him. However, Longtom stopped him by snaring his ship. "What the fuck are you doing?!" the pilot demanded as he struggled to break free of the tank's grasp.

"Keeping you from getting yourself killed," Longtom solemnly replied.

"Fuck that, I want to kill that mother fucker!!"

"UpDaBut, don't lose your head!!" Jazzy ordered. "There'll be time for that later! Right now we need you with us!"

UpDaBut did his best to calm himself down and continued to fight without saying another word. His heart, of course, did not stop burning with flames of immense loathing.

At first, they had all thought that SupraBoy's ship had suffered some sort of major malfunction and the Town Portal had stopped working. Nevertheless, they soon began to hear more and more terrorized warnings that the Town Portals had stopped functioning, followed by ominous explosions and naught but interference sounding in the transmitters.

Not only that: the A.N.I. were having the same trouble, too.

"I can't use the Town Portal! Someone he—!!" they yelled in horror and then the blast deafened their cries.

"Town Portals aren't working?" asked WhiteHawkOne. He immediately tried to teleport back to the city. But, as his unlucky companions had stated, it was useless. "Fuck, I'm not stupid enough to risk my life like this."

"No, you're just a fucking coward," Baiken replied.

Despite the woman's dare, WhiteHawkOne immediately broke off the fight with Narue and fled at full speed to the warp leading back to Den A. He did not even heed his companion's cry as he sped across the battlefield...

"They're onto me!!" Earl screamed as two I-gears and an A-gear incessantly fired at him. They had cut off all exits and were quickly ripping his ship apart. But WhiteHawkOne had already disappeared through the warp. "Someone, help!!"

As Baiken looked at the A-gear's radar, she realized that Octavius and herself were the ones closest to the agonizing I-gear. With a sigh and a roll of her eye, she patted Octavius on the back and said: "Okay, were-bear, let's help that jerk out."

"Where is he?" the pilot asked. He spotted Earl on his radar and went to his aid. He turned on the special shields and did his best to fend off the attackers. Moments later, a nearby M-gear repaired Earl's ship...

"Oh, God..." he muttered. "Thank you, guys..."

"What was that? So the rookies can be useful?" Baiken sardonically asked.

"I'm sorry I said that stuff about you," Earl quickly said.

"Focus on fighting: you can tease him later, Baiken," Honrar interrupted.

Yet the all failed to see how Araya swooped from the sky above and delivered one swift, lethal volley of bombs upon the now distracted Earl.

"Shit! SHIT!!" the pilot yelled in horror as he lost all control of his ship and plunged into the ground. As he faced death, he could only think of one thing to say. "I'm sorry!!" And then the fire engulfed him.

"Holy shit!" Baiken yelled. "Octavius, kill that guy!"

"He is too far away now," the were-bear darkly replied.

"Fuck him... we have to be on the lookout for those freaking B-gears."

"Guys, things are getting too ugly here," Mosfet said. "You fellas just get to Den B and go to Bygeniou."

"I still can't tell how they found out about the attack..." Djneff pondered.

"Yeah, I was half-expecting to meet them in Bach Mountain Chain..." Honrar added.

"That's not important. They've got spies, and so do we. But right now, we have to get away from here," Siachen said. "Will you be all right, lads?"

"Yeah, just get out of here!" Mosfet growled at the same time that a group of B-gears unleashed their cargo upon him. He managed to roll out of the bombs' way and take down one of the fiends, yet he was still targeted by the rest.

"You know the plan, guys," BlackMercy said. "High altitude and then we dive into the warp."

"Shadaoh, we're going," Maici announced.

"I can't break free from this guy!" Shadaoh grunted while rolling through one of Gallager's barrages. "Jeez! This guy hates me more than I can imagine!"

Both pilots had damaged each other's ships. However, they had been aided by their brigade's M-gears. Shadaoh had repeatedly tried to get away from Gallager, for he felt that he was not helping his nation by being locked in a single duel against the Wulfpack. He had even managed to defeat a couple more ships that had gotten in his way. For his part, Gallager only wanted to see his opponent B-gear burn. It did not matter how long it would take him: he would destroy the fiend this time. In a way, he was grateful that the Town Portals had stopped functioning...

"You guys go! I'll catch up with you the minute I get rid of him..." and then, he added in a low voice to himself: "Assuming I am the one who wins."

"All right, guys: move out. It's time to go get your friends!" Maici announced.

"Right behind you, Maici," Ukyo said, gripping her chest and taking a deep breath, hoping that they would make it to Bygeniou and rescue their beloved and their friends.

Tactical Aggression disappeared from the battlefield. They got into the clouds and quickly made their way to the enemy's portal.

"We're right above the warp, guys," Twist said. "Remember, just nose dive into the thing. There will probably be A-gears guarding it: just ignore them. Burn your boosters as much as you can. But watch out: don't get them to overheat."

"We understand," Leon murmured. "Let's just get this over with."

At that moment, Pablosky, Jusafing, and Yopas had gone back to watch over the warp to Den B, to make sure no A.N.I. would be able to ambush any gears that might try to make it back to that spot. So far, no one had been brave (or foolish) enough.

Suddenly, from the clouds, violet lightning unexpectedly rained down upon the gate.

"Whoa!!" Pablosky yelled in surprise. "What the heck is that?"

"I never seen a lightning storm like that in my life," Jusafing murmured.

The clouds' assault on the warp gate ended. Yet when all seemed quiet, Yopas noticed something quite alarming.

"The lights of the warp gate... they've gone off!"

At that very instant, Tactical Aggression descended from the sky like raindrops and headed to the warp gate.

"On to Den B!" BlackMercy yelled.

Yet the soon became stupefied as they went through the warp gate as if they had gone through a hole in one building. The warp was broken. Never before had something like that happened in the years the B.C.U. and the A.N.I. had been fighting each other. And upon this strange event, every pilot became afraid.

"The warp isn't working!!" Siachen yelled.

"Oh, really, you think??" Djneff growled loudly.

"Calm down, guys; calm down!" Maici ordered, even when in truth even she was struggling against that sudden rush of fright. "Okay... everyone, return to the battle. We'll figure out how to go through that in a minute."

"But Wilheim and the others—" began Ukyo, despair filling her voice.

"In a minute, Ukyo!" Maici replied.

As Tactical Aggression regretfully made their way back to the gathering of ships, followed closely by Pablosky, Jusafing, and Yopas, pilots from both sides stated that the warp to Den A had also stopped functioning. For the first time, the B.C.U. and the A.N.I. felt the urging need to escape. The leaders themselves were taken aback by their confinement in the ruined city. Fear and hatred turned the pilots much more aggressive. This time, there was no escaping. They had to kill or be killed.

Sora and his friends quickly knew that the panic and anger where the cause of the eerie storm. They turned to it, knowing that it could only be the work of their old enemies. And as if heeding their thoughts, the Heartless emerged from the violet haze. They too flew ships, but not like the ones the heroes had previously destroyed in the darkness of space. These ones seemed like copies of all the gears... and there were also a dozen of immense battleships that served as carriers for the smaller vessels. The Heartless indeed seemed determined to end with all life on Phillon, for they outnumbered both the B.C.U. and the A.N.I. put together three to one.

"HEARTLESS!!" each and every one of the warriors that had faced the emblem of the broken heart exclaimed.

The travelers from Wulfpack decided to concentrate their fire on the Heartless, rather than worry about mistakenly hitting one of their own friends. Upon battling a familiar enemy, they started to fight decently for the first time in the battle.

Unfortunately for them, the B.C.U. and the A.N.I. were too busy fighting against each other to care for the Heartless. Their anger blinded them from any other enemies. Not even when the Heartless started to attack them did they pay attention to them. Well, most of them, that is...

"What the fuck are those things?!" Sniperdog yelled.

"The Heartless we told you about!" Donald answered. "Shoot them!"

"I've got twelve on them on my tail!! Help, somebody!" Narue cried.

"Come on, Wilheim, let's go!" Ryu pressed the pilot as he saw the girl's ship being pursued by such a large force. The young man nodded and quickly made his way to fend off the Heartless.

While they were immensely superior in number, the Heartless' ships were quite fragile and crumbled upon the first few impacts of Wilheim's cannon, which was not the best gun of the B.C.U. tanks. As the boy saw that taking down the Heartless was easier than he thought, he realized that maybe, just maybe, if the B.C.U. and the A.N.I. all attacked the Heartless without killing one another they would be able to rid Phillon of this menace.

Yet that was not the case and he was soon reminded of this as one of Shadaoh's clones appeared out of nowhere and crashed into Narue. The damage was catastrophic and Narue's ship became a fireball rushing to the ground.

"NARUE!!" the Wulfpack cried in horror as they saw her fall.

"Oh, God!" the girl cried.

Wilheim and Ryu watched in silence as the ship fell. But to their relief, the cockpit opened up and shot Narue straight up. She parachuted safely on the ground. Of course, she was now quite an easy target.

"Narue is alive, but she's a sitting duck on the grass!!" Ryu announced.

"She lives??" Akane asked.

"...Okay... Wilheim, Rhino: cover her. Spazzy: you go down her and pick her up," JazzyJet instructed.

"Roger!" they all said and did as they were told.

For their part, Jam, Leon, and their friends had also focused their fire on the Heartless. That did not mean, however, that they were still not shooting B.C.U. They knew that there was not one, but two enemies on the field and both of them wanted to see them burn.

LittleDagger approached Jam from behind and began to shoot her with charged shots and machine gun blasts. His weapons were so potent that he did not even have to recur to bombs to have the woman running for cover.

"Someone, help!" Jam cried.

"Jam!!" ShabelleTiger exclaimed upon seeing her being torn apart and rushed to her aid. Djneff hastily flew by his side.

LittleDagger moved in for the kill. He was right on top of Jam when he began to open his bombing compartment. Jam noticed this and shut her eyes, waiting for her ship to blow up.

"I won't let him!!" ShabelleTiger roared. He then flew right below LittleDagger.

The B.C.U. fiend let loose his cargo. All of the projectiles hit ShabelleTiger. He let out a final grunt before his ship exploded into a hundred pieces. The explosion was so fierce that LittleDagger was thrown off course. Enraged, Djneff shot him without rest. The B-gear was unable to take any damage and his pilot quickly escaped the ominous blast by pulling on the emergency lever. He landed on the ground safely right about the time his vessel impacted against a burnt building.

"NO, SHABELLE!!" Jam wailed inconsolably.

"Mother fucker, he survived!!" Djneff roared as he saw how an M-gear made his way to pick up LittleDagger.

Ukyo and BlackMercy were flying side by side. They were chasing MasterMenace, whose specialty was hit-and-run. He had destroyed many a ships and had run to hide in the nearby mountains to avoid the many missiles that were shot at him afterwards.

The two Tactical Aggression came into Starsiege's range. The tank quickly pointed at Ukyo and began to fire against her mercilessly.

"No, not again!!" the girl wailed in horror. "He's killing me!"

"I've got him!!" BlackMercy exclaimed as he positioned himself in front of Ukyo and took the punishing. He fired many missiles, which were the only effective weapons, for his bullets seemed to bounce off Starsiege like pebbles on a pond. In the end, though, his fighter was unable to withstand the mighty A-gear's blasts and caught fire.

"BlackMercy!! Get out!!" wailed Ukyo, but BlackMercy had already tried to bail from his ship – the emergency controls were not working.

"Tell my family I love them..." he quickly requested and shut his eyes.

"Jerry, no!!" Maici exclaimed.

But he was not willing to die in vain: his ship's path was set to crash against Starsiege's tank.

"Oh, shit..." Starsiege murmured upon realizing that he would be unable to evade the ball of fire that was falling like a meteorite.

"Look out!!" Pablosky tried to warn, but his admonition was futile. The tank took the blow and exploded. The pilots – both from Wulfpack and from Tactical Aggression – let out a howl of sadness as they saw this.

Yet moments later, to their amazement, Starsiege opened the hatch and poked his head out of the vessel...

"Oh, great! He's alive!" Felicia announced with relief.

But their happiness was too brief. The second of Shadaoh's clones realized this was the perfect opportunity to take out such a dangerous enemy. The fiend flew right at the bewildered Starsiege. The hurt pilot was too weak to escape his destiny. The clone crashed into the destroyed tank, causing a bigger explosion from which the B.C.U. was unable to escape. His body disappeared amongst the flames.

"GODDAMN IT!!" FireFalcon roared. "I HATE THE A.N.I.!!"

"They're... they're tearing us apart!" Gerry cried.

"It's not them! It's the Heartless!" Felicia said. "And if all of you B.C.U. and A.N.I. had more brains in you, you would stop fighting one another for a while and face the bigger problem!"

Of course, an onslaught of curses flooded the transmitters. The cat-woman sighed and did her best to control her feelings of anger.

"That's it!" Garfungle exclaimed. "They've really done it! Now I'm going to kill someone! Ah, there's DoubleEagle... He's mine!!"

"No, wait, Garfungle!" Sniperdog called.

"Get back here!" ordered DjFlaco.

The young pilot raced after the Goon's leader. In his anger, he did not realize that he had nearly run out of missiles. He fired one volley against DoubleEagle, catching his attention. The Goon swiftly evaded the projectiles and turned around. Garfungle pulled the trigger again, but nothing happened.

"Oh, no! I'm out of missiles!!" he grasped... but all too late. "DE is shooting at me! Oh, my God! Sniper—!"

The ill-omened interference was that which followed.

"No... no, no, no..." Sniperdog muttered, unwilling to believe the death of his sibling. "Garfungle? Garfungle, talk to me..."

"What's happening...?" murmured EvaRaine to herself.

"I hate this place," Ken whispered away from the communicator.

"I don't know who's worse..." Siegfried mumbled.

Wilheim's anger started to get the best of him. He did his best to control himself from exploding and doing anything rash. But he simply could not stand idly watching the A.N.I. kill his companions. He turned to Ryu with resolve and said:

"Keep your eyes on the radar: the A.N.I. will now feel my wrath."

"...Okay," replied Ryu, somewhat disconcerted by his friend's fury, for he knew that Wilheim could be extremely violent when he was out of his mind.

Yet his friend managed to control his rage. First, he aimed his turret at a nearby I-gear.

"Can I shoot?" he asked.

"You're clear," Ryu answered as he glanced at the radar.

Wilheim commenced furious fire. The enemy vessel had already taken a lot of harm. A couple of seconds was all it took for the I-gear to catch fire. However, before it could nose-dive into the ground, Wilheim caught it with his snaring beam and slowly placed it on the soil, giving the pilot enough time to escape the vessel. Ryu smiled faintly upon seeing this and continued to scan the radar.

A battle on the ground amongst the pilots was also taking place. They shot at each other with their pistols while hiding behind every piece of debris they could find. And when they did not have any more bullets, they rushed at each other with piercing weapons. Moreover, the Heartless had also begun a ground invasion and greatly outnumbered the pilots as well. One by one they took their hearts and grew stronger...

Yet Wilheim and his friends were too concerned with the ships to pay attention to these details.

"Am I clear?!" Wilheim asked.

"Clear!" Ryu confirmed and the young man resumed his attack.

"Clear??"

"Clear!"

Every single ship he shot down he snared and brought down to safety, except, of course, the Heartless vessels, which he made sure disappeared entirely.

"What about that B-gear?" Wilheim asked.

Ryu looked on the radar and saw the B-gear's name.

"Maici..." he murmured to himself. "Yeah, you're clear."

Maici had not seen Wilheim until she felt his cannon fire. Since she was locked in a fight against an enemy I-gear, it was very difficult for her to take care of the A-gear. Moreover, she noticed that the Wulfpack tanks were being escorted by fellow B-gears who flocked like vultures to any bomber that approached them. She knew that they had to get rid of the tanks before they caused any more trouble...

"Ziggy!" she called. "I need you to repair the damages on my ship, please... Twist, Siachen, Cayenne: do your best to distract the B-gears guarding Wulfpack's tanks." She paused for a moment as she rolled through one of the I-gear's volleys and responded with a well-aimed bombardment that obliterated her opponent. Yet before she could face Wilheim, who had not stopped shooting, she was attacked by a group of Heartless ships. "Dang it... Ukyo, I need you to take care of a tank that hasn't stopped bugging me."

"Okay..." Ukyo murmured, her mind still troubled by her beloved... "I see him. I'll bomb him right away."

"Lookout, Wilheim," Ryu warned. "There's a B-gear targeting us."

"I see him," the young man replied, pointing at the vessel with his turret. Thankfully, he did not forget to ask... "Am I clear?"

Ryu glanced at the radar screen.

"...NO!!" he wailed. "Don't shoot!! It's Ukyo!!"

"Ukyo?!" Wilheim screamed and froze. He glued his eyes on the B-gear, silently pleading that its bombing compartment would not open. He wanted to say more, but his words got stuck on his mouth.

Ukyo realized that the tank was pointing at her, yet it was not shooting. Perhaps he was readying his most devastating attack?

"Need help, Ukyo?" asked Ranma.

"Maybe," she replied. "I'm about to bomb—" Then she saw his name on the radar. Her mouth dried as she approached the tank.

She passed right by Ryu and Wilheim's side. Neither of them fired a single bullet. They looked at each other's cockpits and saw their faces. Both relief and terror invaded them. Wilheim and Ryu were most concerned, for their beliefs had been confirmed. Ukyo was most confused: how could her beloved be fighting with the B.C.U.?

Whatever the case, she chose to ponder about it later. Coming out of her trance, she yelled into the communicator:

"IT'S WILHEIM!!"

"What??" her friends blurted.

"Wilheim! Wilheim's in that tank, and so is Ryu! Our friends our fighting for the B.C.U.! Don't shoot them! Stop fighting!!"

"Oh, my God..." Ryoga murmured as he looked at the radar and saw indeed that there was a ship with quite a familiar name: Adrian.

For their part, Wilheim and Ryu were also letting their friends know about the situation.

"Ukyo's here!!" Ryu cried. "That must mean that the rest of the guys must be around!"

"Okay, no more attacking the A.N.I.!" Sora yelled. "Let's focus mainly on the Heartless!"

The Wulfpack were quite reluctant to this strategy. Nevertheless, they did not want to commit the terrible mistake of killing someone dear to their companions. In the end, they decided to spare the A.N.I. for a while. Pablosky and his comrades also put a halt to their attacks on their rivals.

Tactical Aggression too stopped attacking their opponents. Maici looked at her radar and saw that Ukyo was not lying. Just to make absolutely sure, she approached Wilheim and placed herself in front of him. They boy did not understand this move, yet since the pilot was showing no signs of aggression, he chose not to heed her and keep fighting against the Heartless. Maici realized that at any other moment any other B.C.U. would have fired without a second thought.

But the rest of the pilots were not so kind. They attacked their enemies without thinking of the battle's outcome. For them, it ended today, because they had been forced to fight to the death, from their point of view...

A single B-gear approached Wilheim. Since all of his companions had started paying attention to the A.N.I., they did not see the enemy vessel that closed in on the young man and the fighter. Luckily Ryu realized they were being targeted.

"Will, a stubborn one's approaching," he declared. "Turn the barrier on."

"What is his name?" the pilot asked.

"BBQ... something. Just raise the shields."

With a nod, Wilheim did as Ryu told him. Or he tried, is more like it... for he had depleted all of the tank's energy by saving the ships from crashing by snaring them. Panic suddenly invaded his eyes and mouth.

"I can't!" he exclaimed.

"What??" Ryu yelled.

"We do not have any more energy!"

"Wilheim, eject, eject!!" Balence exclaimed.

With great regret, Wilheim pulled the lever holding their seats to the ship and they were both sent flying high into the air. This was just seconds before BBQ unleashed his cargo and completely obliterated the tank.

"BROTHER!!" Siegfried yelled.

"They made it out, don't worry," said FireFalcon.

Once they had landed on the ground and walked away from their former seat, they put themselves on guard. Paradoxically, Ryu was really relieved to be out of the tank: now he would be able to put his fighting skills to the test. Sadly, they would no only have to fight the Heartless, but the feisty A.N.I. who still wished nothing more than to see every B.C.U. dead.

Ukyo saw Wilheim and Ryu fighting on the open field before she even looked at the destroyed tank. Without hesitation, she began to slowly fly above their heads, using her machine gun to destroy every Heartless that came at them. She also used some guided missiles to blow up enemy vessels; yet she did not dare to let loose bombs upon any fiend, for obvious reasons. Wilheim quickly realized that her beloved was the pilot watching over their backs.

Many human opponents rushed at them and shot their guns against them. Wilheim and Ryu effortlessly (yet most unwillingly) defeated them with their bare hands. The young man did not even reach for Renamark (when fighting A.N.I. pilots, that is, for he speedily killed the Heartless with his magical sword when they did approach). One relatively strong punch or kick and they were down for the count. Indeed, Ryu and Wilheim were lucky they had honed their skills so many times in the past, for in reality, the A.N.I. were no pushovers when it came to hand-to-hand combat.

Ukyo was making a wonderful job keeping the Heartless away from the duo. Moreover, no dark ships could get to her; her brigade mates were mowing them down. It seemed that they still had a chance to turn the tables on the Heartless after all.

Yet moments later, one B.C.U. B-gear approached the distracted girl. He obviously did not mean well and fortunately Maici noticed this.

"Ukyo, Cestlavie coming up behind you!" she warned.

The girl instinctively rolled through most of the bombs that the B.C.U. unleashed. However, she took heavy damage and soon her ship began to descend. She no longer had control of hit.

"Damn it!! I'm going to crash!!" she announced.

"Get out of there!" Twist yelled.

As her friends, Ukyo ejected her seat from the vessel. Her B-gear exploded upon impact, yet she survived. She was a bit disoriented once she fell to the ground. Prey of a sudden fright, all she could think of was to call her beloved at the top of her lungs.

"WILHEIM!! WILHEIM!!" she wailed.

The young lad, who had witnessed the B-gear's fate, heard her voice and immediately went to her aid.

"Ukyo!" he called, embracing her and kissing her brow before quickly putting himself back on guard.

"Wilheim, I'm so glad you're here," she sobbed. "Why the heck are you fighting for the B.C.U.?"

"Same reason you're fighting for the A.N.I., I guess," intervened Ryu. "Look, explanations come later. Right now: we have to try to stay alive."

"Traitors!!" a pilot yelled as he furiously ran towards the three, knife in hand. It appeared that he had run out of bullets. His jumpsuit had blue stripes: it was a B.C.U.

Wilheim easily subdued him; he twisted his arm, forcing him to drop the weapon, and pinned him against the floor. He put his weight on top of him so he would not get up.

"I merely disarmed you, but I could have cut your throat," he grumbled. "And I do not intend to. I will not kill you... do you still believe I am a traitor?"

"You're siding with the A.N.I.! MasterMenace was right!" the pilot answered.

"I do not owe you any answers, nor do I care what you think."

At that moment, an A.N.I. pilot began to shoot at Ryu. He effortlessly evaded the gun fire and readied himself to counterattack. However, Ukyo quickly tossed one of her tiny spatulas at the opponent, wounding his leg, causing him to fall on his knees. Before he could get up, she ran to him and delivered a flying kick at his face, like Jam had taught her to and knocked him out.

The B.C.U. pilot could barely believe what he had just seen. A.N.I.'s attacking A.N.I.'s? But Wilheim hastily gave an answer to his doubts.

"Do not think this is merely a coincidence. We are friends on opposite sides and we rather listen to reason than to give into hatred."

"Will!! Look!!" called Ryu.

The young man turned to his friend. He and Ukyo, who had now returned to their side, were staring at the horizon, where the violet haze was disappearing... or rather, it was changing.

The mist concentrated on one place and started to become solid. Gas turned into skin, muscles, and bones. It began to take form as it grew immense arms and legs. It developed a gigantic torso which appeared to be incomplete, for it had a hole with the shape of a heart. It had long, thick hair and a pair of yellow eyes that looked like flames eating through the wasteland's eternal darkness. The monster was so colossal that its head reached the black clouds of Bark City and lightning got caught in its hair. It was an ominous sight. The gigantic shadow was the biggest monster anyone had ever seen before. Only Sora had seen this sort of enemy before, yet never so immense, never so terrifying. Moreover, he had never seen the monster's mouth, for in the past, it had always been covered by a dark scarf which matched the color of its shadowy skin. This Heartless had no piece of cloth around his face. It was proud to show its horrendous smile. All of its teeth were fangs and that augmented its ugliness.

"Oh, damn..." Sora muttered. "Guys, look at that..."

Terror stroke fear into the hearts of every single warrior in the battlefield. For the first time, terror overcame the hatred that the B.C.U. and the A.N.I. had for one another. Upon the sight of this monstrous creature, the pilots began to fall much more quickly to the Heartless, which seemed only to be increasing in number, despite Wulfpack's and Tactical Aggression's efforts to rid Bark of their plague.

Ukyo, Wilheim, and Ryu kept fighting alongside each other, destroying as many ground units as they could, but they knew they had not much time left. The gigantic fiend let out a roar and fired bolts of energy from its chest, which obliterated every ship they touched. Many brave pilots tried to shoot at it, but their bullets were quite ineffective, like bugs attempting to break through an iron wall.

Both nations' leaders immediately gave the order to their underlings to restore the warps' power. Everyone began to draw back to the gates in a hurry.

"Is Narue safe with you, Spazzy?" asked Wulfpack's leader.

"Yeah, she's here," the pilot replied.

"Then there's no one left on the battlefield other than Will and Ryu?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"All right," Jazzy said, taking a deep breath. "Everyone, get out of here. I'll get 'em on board and then we'll fly out of here."

"What about Ukyo?? She's with them, too!" Sora exclaimed.

"I'm not leaving her, don't worry," Jazzy assured. He solemnly turned to his copilot. "Are you up for this, Akane?"

"Those are my friends, down there," she answered with resolve. "I'm not about to leave them."

"Can't we stay and help?" Ken asked.

"It's too dangerous and I'm the powerhouse here: I can manage to take them," the pilot said.

"You heard the man, guys, let's get out of here," Longtom pressed.

"I want to make sure they'll be okay!" Sora insisted.

"I want to stay too!" Siegfried added.

"If they stay, so will we!" Donald quacked.

"Yeah, we have to take care of them," said Goofy.

"Come on, boys, time to go!" Longtom exclaimed, thinking about Jazzy's orders and the 'rookies' safety only. Without waiting for any sort of approval, he snared Siegfried and dragged his ship to the warp.

"What the hell are you doing?? Let me go!!" the young man yelled.

Rhinoterox did the same with Sora and Spazzy forced Donald and Goofy to latch onto his M-gear. Since Ken, Adrian, and Felicia were showing no intentions of going quietly either, FireFalcon quickly formed them and they all moved them away from the battlefield in spite of their complaints and angry wails.

Tactical Aggression was soon forced to do the same thing with Jam, Leon, Octavius, Ranma, Sakura, Ryoga, and Baiken, under Maici's orders. However, like Jazzy, she decided to stay behind and help Ukyo and her friends.

"We're not leaving without knowing that our friends are all right!" yelled Ryoga as Honrar dragged their ship to the warp with his snare beam.

"Let us go!" wailed Sakura.

"Sorry, guys: this is what's best for you," the A-gear pilot sighed.

"No way! We've got to help Ukyo, Ryu and Will!" Jam cried.

"Get that fucking beam off us, goddamn it!" Baiken roared at Djneff. "I'll break you if you fucking take us!"

"We'll have to settle this later... sorry," the man murmured.

"I won't go just like that!" Leon said as Ziggy towed his I-gear. "Get away!"

"Maici knows what she's doing, so be calm," Ziggy replied. "Maici, do come back soon."

"Just get out of here; the repairs are nearly complete," Tactical Aggression's leader ordered. "And take Shadaoh with you!"

"We would, if he would just stop fighting that guy!" Twist said.

"He won't let me get away!" Shadaoh grumbled while evading Gallager's onslaught of missiles. "I'll go as soon as I can! You guys get yourselves out!"

Meanwhile, the Wulfpack were also worried about their berserk companion.

"Gallager, it will be another day!" Apocalypse said. "Let him be! You'll get into a lot of trouble if you stay!"

"I'm not leaving until I get him for what he did to Arken!" Gallager replied. "And that's the end of it!"

However, the monster quickly put a halt on their battle. It opened its hideous mouth and unleashed a potent beam of energy upon the two pilots. Luckily, Gallager and Shadaoh noticed this attack and both immediately flew down in order to avoid being scorched alive. Nevertheless, the Heartless' attack did hit them on the rear. They were able to keep their gears from crashing lethally into the ground, yet they were downed nonetheless. The impact was fierce enough to knock Gallager out and to leave Shadaoh on the verge of unconsciousness.

"Shit!!" cursed Kobe. "What do we do?!"

"I'll take care of it," Jazzy said. "Now, go!"

"I'll watch over Shadaoh as well," Maici said to her companions. "Don't worry about him: go!"

"You'll be okay, Shad!" Siachen said.

"Ugh... uh..." muttered the wounded pilot.

At that very instant, both the B.C.U. and the A.N.I. repairmen announced that the warps were functioning at last.

"Back to Bygeniou, people!" Milky ordered.

"Retreat! We shall kill them another day!" Jester commanded.

Ukyo, Ryu, and Wilheim had fortunately saw Gallager and Shadaoh's ships as they crashed on the ground. They recognized the logos on the wings and quickly went to aid their friends. Ukyo practically tore the cockpit windshield apart with her spatula and helped Shadaoh out of the burning vessel. Wilheim cut through the metal that imprisoned Gallager and Ryu carried him away from the B-gear.

JazzyJet and Maici piloted their ships near the warriors and remained close to them. They did their best to fend off the onslaught of Heartless ships that mercilessly attacked them. Both pilots realized that working on their own would not suffice to destroy the incoming enemy ships. They established a tacit pact and Jazzy hastily formed Maici, who did not cease to shoot devastating projectiles against their enemies and overwhelming bombs against those foolish enough to get close. Their combined forces also destroyed every Heartless that approached on foot.

But despite their teamwork, they were not ready for what was coming. The monstrous Heartless let out a chilling howl and extended its arms to its side. It opened its hands and these began to glow in an eerie fashion. Jazzy, Akane, and Maici stared at it without knowing what to expect. Suddenly, their gears started to drift to the monster as if they were being sucked by a typhoon. The pilots turned their ships around and burnt their thrusters as much as they were able to.

Strangely enough, neither of the warriors on the ground was feeling the effects of the Heartless' power. They could do nothing but to stare in shock at their friends as the fiend attracted their vessels to him. Very soon, their engines were unable to take more punishment and they broke down. They began to fly at full speed to the Heartless, to their friends' horror.

However, the monster had exhausted his energy and decided to end the attack. He emitted a most powerful wave that literally vaporized the ships that were nearest to him. The surrounding buildings exploded and the missile and rocket launchers were sent flying into the air as if thrown by a mighty hurricane. The ships that were farthest away – such as Jazzy's and Maici's – were not destroyed by the powerful blast. Rather, they flew into the ground much like the turrets. They skidded with great speed until they hit the mountains were most of the downed pilots had taken refuge. Both Jazzy and Maici were knocked out by this tremendous blast. Akane remained awake, but was trapped inside the burning M-gear.

"Jazzy!! Akane!!" Ryu and Wilheim yelled as they raced to their friends' vessel.

"Maici!!" Ukyo wailed. "Wilheim, help me, please!" she begged, practically dragging Shadaoh along with her.

"But JazzyJet and Akane are inside that ship!" Wilheim replied.

"I'll go help Ryu!" the girl answered. "But please! Get Maici out!"

The young man gave a quick glance at Ryu. The warrior could not pay attention to him, for he was much too busy taking care of the unconscious Gallager and doing his best to get Akane and JazzyJet out of the aircraft. With a sigh, Wilheim raced to the fallen B-gear and opened the cockpit with Renamark's help. Ukyo meanwhile ran to the Wulfpack ship.

"Ryu, help!!" Akane desperately cried from inside the spaceship.

"Step away from the window, Akane!" Ryu ordered. When the girl did as he told her, the warrior threw his fist into the glass, completely breaking it. He reached for Akane, but before she accepted his helping hand, she grabbed JazzyJet and handed him to Ryu.

"Get him out!" she exclaimed.

"Akane, I'll help you!" Ukyo cried from the other side. She breached the cockpit as well and freed her friend.

At that very moment, Wilheim had managed to free Maici. He ran away with her in his arms just as the B-gear blew up completely.

"Caves..." Shadaoh muttered. "We've got to hide in the caves..."

"Caves?" Ryu said. "Within the mountains?"

"Yeah... we've got to hurry..."

The gargantuan Heartless and the hundreds of vessels were now scourging all of Bark, killing any stray pilots that were on their way, destroying any ship that had survived the brutal blast. Each step that the monster gave caused the ground to tremble.

Ukyo discerned a cavern nearby and pointed at it.

"We can hide there!" she said. "Akane, help Shadaoh; I'll carry that guy," she added, glancing at Gallager.

"I'll take Jazzy, then," Ryu mumbled.

"Wilheim! Let's go!"

They all quickly made their way to the cave. The shadows of the cavern were quite welcoming, they reckoned. However, the Heartless were still looking for any lost pilots. The warriors realized that they would find their hiding place soon, unless they did something drastic...

Taking the initiative, Ryu unleashed a Hadoken upon the cave's entrance, causing many stones to collapse. He was very careful as to where he aimed, for he obviously did not wish for the cave to fall on top of them. They were now trapped; but at least they were out of the Heartless' sight.

The dark hunt seemed to go on forever. The pilots remained hidden inside the cave, not daring to move a pebble, listening to the screams of horror and pain of those who did not have the fortune of finding a hiding spot. They cursed themselves quietly, because they were unable to help those poor men and women. The Heartless had grown too strong this time, it seemed... For the hatred within Phillon had fueled their power unlike anything else.

The hunt went on for hours and hours until the screams stopped. The ships swooped near the cave, yet did not halt their flight. The immense monster's growls and screeches quieted and the ground soon shook no more. The pilots heard how the warps allowed the Heartless to flood the Dens. Despair and tiredness got a hold of them and those who were not already unconscious fell asleep.

_(__Bark – inside the cave)_

_Narrator: Akane_

I woke up without really wanting to. This had been the most brutal, horrifying battle I had been in. Sure, our last stand on Gaia had also been horrendous, but at least we won that time. This time, we had suffered a terrible defeat. I let out a sigh and curled up against Ryu, who had been watching over me the whole time.

I couldn't stop thinking about Ranma and the others. A lot of people had died in that battle... and there was a chance that our friends might've been among that group. God, just to think of it... I almost broke into tears, but I held on fiercely to Ryu and did my best to keep quiet. At least we knew Ukyo was safe...

My friend seemed to be sleeping still in Wilheim's arms. I could see them cuddled up against one another (there were some weak rays of light pouring from some holes on the stones that blocked the cave, so it wasn't all dark). However, as I looked closer, I noticed she was awake and simply didn't want to open her eyes. I realized this when she sneezed... Will also knew this, but he didn't rouse her or anything. I guess he just wanted her to be by his side. The same way I wanted to be with Ranma...

At least there were no more sounds. Everything outside the cave was quiet. I suppose they wanted to wait until we were fully rested before we ventured into that barren wasteland. I know I absolutely didn't want to go out. If the Heartless appeared again, we would be in serious trouble. There had to be a way to call for help... And what would our friends be thinking about us? If Ranma was alive, he'd be worried sick about me, I think.

"No sign of anything, it seems," Ryu finally said in a low voice.

With a sigh of resignation, I sat down and rubbed my eyes. Ukyo did the same, yet she didn't let go of Wilheim.

"I hope the B.C.U. get here first..." Ukyo murmured.

"I do not know what I prefer," Wilheim sighed. "A.N.I. or B.C.U... Either way, we will be in trouble."

"I rather be taken prisoner than you, baby."

"How do you know they're even coming?" I asked.

"Shadaoh and JazzyJet were awake a while ago at different times," Ryu answered. "They both turned on some sort of beacons that emit a signal revealing our status and position."

"Oh... so both the A.N.I. and the B.C.U. know we're alive?"

"Yeah, that's it. It's just a matter of who gets here first."

"I can only hope that only one of them will reach us," Wilheim said. "For if they meet again, the Heartless will no doubt return."

We all knew what he meant. The hatred of both nations spawned the most powerful race of Heartless we had yet faced. And if the B.C.U. and the A.N.I. kept at it, all of Phillon would be devoured by those monsters. Things were really looking grim...

"The Heartless and the nations aren't our only problems," Ukyo declared. She turned to Wilheim as she gloomily added: "Baiken told me she and Maici faced a Nobody from the Organization XIII: my Nobody."

"Your Nobody?" we asked, confused. "Can you run that by us again, Ukyo?" said Ryu.

"It seems that she was identical to me," my friend explained. "Only that... well, she was evil. She threatened Maici and offered Baiken her help... if she betrayed us."

"Did she agree?" I stupidly asked, but I have to admit that I didn't have a very high opinion on Baiken at that time.

"Of course not!" she responded, quite annoyed, and rightfully so.

"She would help her with what?" Ryu asked.

"It's something only Wilheim and I know... We promised we wouldn't tell anyone."

"Oh, okay. I won't ask again."

At that moment, the girl Wilheim had saved began to stir in her sleep. After a few seconds, she raised her head and rubbed it as she let out a moan. She opened her eyes and looked at us in silence with a puzzled expression. It took her almost a minute to realize where we were and what had happened. At last, she finally asked:

"Is everyone all right?"

"We're all alive, if that's what you mean," Ryu answered. "Your friend is alive, and so are ours."

"That's... that's good to know," she mumbled, leaning her back against the stony wall. She then turned to Ukyo and Wilheim. "I'm glad to see you got your boyfriend back."

"Thanks, Maici," Ukyo answered. "We wouldn't be together if wouldn't have been for you..." After a slight pause, she added: "Wilheim saved you."

"Really? Well, thank you, Wilheim..."

"You are welcome," he answered kindly. Though we were still somewhat mad at the A.N.I. for what they had done, we understood that they were like us and that we couldn't hate them for that. Hatred was the last thing we needed at that time.

"Is Dan all right?" Maici asked as she looked at her comrade.

"He's fine. He just passed out," Ukyo answered.

"Good... So, which one of those two is JazzyJet?" she questioned with a curious glance.

"The one next to me is Jazzy," I answered. "The one farther away is Gallager."

"Oh, boy..." she mumbled. "I hope he doesn't wake up yet. If he sees Dan, he'll—"

She became quiet as a grave when both pilots suddenly opened their eyes. They shook their heads and, like Maici, carefully studied their surroundings. It took them a bit less time to speak, because they saw and recognized each other.

"Shadaoh..." murmured Gallager, with anger in his voice.

"Just what I needed," the A.N.I. groaned. "What, Gallager? You want to keep on fighting here?"

"No one's going to fight," Ryu intervened. "We've had enough for today, okay? Calm down, Gallager."

Our companion breathed heavily, trying to calm down his fury. At last, he crossed his arms and looked away. At least he didn't throw himself against Shadaoh...

Moments later, the final fighter roused from his sleep. Since, apparently, he had momentarily wakened up before; he was the one who reacted the fastest.

"No ships have come yet?" he asked. He then noticed his rivals were also awake. "I don't feel like fighting now."

"Neither do we," Maici announced. "Anyway, those were the Heartless you were talking about, right?" she asked Ukyo.

"Yeah, those were them," our friend answered.

"How come they were so powerful? I thought you said they were just numerous, but not that strong..."

"Usually they are..."

"Heartless are shadowy beings that feed on the darkness of peoples' hearts," Wilheim grimly explained. "And this planet is riddled with horrible feelings."

"What do you mean?" Shadaoh murmured.

"Your hatred for one another is like endless, rotting cattle that has served as an enormous feast for those vultures. Their hunger is eternal and they will keep consuming your loathing, growing stronger and stronger until they have taken your hearts from you. They will devour the planet and soon, every corner of Phillon will be the same as the dead city outside the cave..."

"You all brought this upon yourselves," Ryu said. "Sora tried to warn you, Jazzy... But not one of the B.C.U. listened."

"I know, stop rubbing it on my face," JazzyJet muttered.

"Whatever," Gallager grumbled. "It's not like I can stop hating him just like that, you know." He pointed at Shadaoh with an accusing finger. "Where is Arken? Are you holding as a prisoner? Tell me where my friend is!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Dan groused. "I've always asked myself what the hell is it about me you can't stand..."

"Ardor Desert!!" Gallager exploded. "Over a year ago! My pilots and I were on a mission and you and your fucking clones showed up! You bombed his ship! Did he survive?!" He looked at his enemy with mad eyes, threatening to go and beat him up with his mere stare. "Tell me!! Did Arken make it?!"

Dan glared at his opponent, seemingly without a clue as to what he was talking about. By the look on their faces, I think only Jazzy, Ryu, and Will knew what was going on. After a minute, though, the A.N.I.'s grimace changed. He didn't stop frowning, but at least it appeared that he had remembered.

"You were spies and I had to attack you," Dan answered. "You would've done the same thing."

"Where is Arken?!" Gallager demanded.

"He died!!" the pilot roared. "I confirmed it after you escaped!"

I was half expecting Gallager to pounce upon Shadaoh and try to beat him to death. Instead however, he remained silent. He strangely calmed down and let out a long, sad sigh. No one dared to say a thing. We just remained still and quiet, waiting for him to speak.

"I... I always had some hope..." he muttered softly. "Not that... not that if he would've been captured his fate would've been any different... right?"

Dan closed his eyes as he answered: "Probably not." And then, he forced himself to say, though with utter honesty in his voice: "I'm sorry."

Gallager smiled dryly and let out a desperate chuckle. I guess Dan's apology had caught him off guard and he refused to believe it. After a while, however, he became calm again and said, with a soft snivel, while keeping the tears in his eyes: "Yeah..."

"This war is stupid," Jazzy murmured, shaking his head.

"I'm glad you realized," Ukyo said.

"All wars are stupid," Maici added. "There are reasons for them, though... But now's not the time for that." She looked at the stones that were covering the exit. "We really have to start thinking about a truce."

"Yeah, right," Dan scoffed. "Tell that to Jester. He'll laugh in your face and then he'll shoot you in front of a crowd for being a 'traitor'."

"It's either a ceasefire or we keep on fighting one another and the Heartless will eat our world."

"It'll be hard to convince the B.C.U. as well," Jazzy sighed. "Including our brigade. Two of our men died today, and so did another good friend, so that'll make things even more difficult."

"Two of our companions died, too," said Maici. "Good friends..."

"Jerry saved my life," Ukyo sighed. "And ShabelleTiger saved Jam's... I feel like a load. If it weren't for me—"

"Don't say those things, Ukyo," the woman interrupted. "You guys helped a lot against the Heartless... and we still need your help."

"We will gladly fight to aid you," Wilheim said. "However, a truce is something that we must achieve, by all means."

"I'm all up for it," Jazzy declared. "I'll do my best to get Wulfpack to help."

"...Yeah, I'd like a truce, too," Gallager murmured. I suppose his hatred towards his nemesis had run out, or it had tired him too much.

"Same here," Dan agreed. "Maici and I will try to convince Tactical Aggression."

"Ukyo..." I murmured nervously. "How... how are our other friends doing?"

"When they left, everyone was OK," she answered. "Don't worry: Ranma's fine," she added, to my relief. "I'm sure he's worried sick about you."

"You... you think?"

"You forgot about your fight, didn't you? My guess is that he did the same."

"I... I hope."

"Well, I'm glad to see you've all agreed to a truce," Ryu told the pilots. "Still, that Ukyo Nobody thing still bothers me... How there's a... 'clone', let's say, of you, Ukyo?"

"If I knew, Ryu, I'd tell you," she sighed. "However, I think it might've something to do with our last adventure. The Heartless took my heart for a while, remember? During that time, Kyuxo – my Nobody – must've been born." Then she looked grimly at Wilheim. "Which leads me to think that there's probably a Nobody of you too, baby; as well as Sora and Kairi. Moreover, I think I already met him."

"My Nobody?" Wilheim asked with confused eyes.

"Yeah..."

She was about to say something else, but she fell quiet when we all heard the roaring of ships' engines. They were coming closer and closer and they were beginning to become soft – the pilots were landing. I didn't know what to think: if they were the Heartless, we would all be in trouble; if it where the B.C.U., then Ukyo, Maici, and Dan would be in trouble (in mortal danger, in fact, if MasterMenace was there... although I think Wilheim would kill him first); and if they were the A.N.I., then we would have a lot of explaining to do before (or after) we got arrested. I just hoped they didn't have their own MasterMenace...

We all kept dreadful silence as we heard footsteps approaching the cave. Someone knocked on the rocks and called out to us.

"Is anyone alive there?" They were definitively human.

"Yeah!" Maici quickly answered. "It's us, Djneff! Help us out of here!"

"Oh, boy..." Jazzy mumbled as we all realized they were A.N.I. pilots.

"Oh, Maici, thank God!" the pilot behind the rocks said. "Guys! Come on, help me get through this! Maici, is Dan with you?"

"Yeah, he and Ukyo are with me, as well as some B.C.U. pilots," she added.

"...What?" the pilot blurted with a worried voice.

"Just get us out of here! And I don't want anyone to even look with wrong eyes at the B.C.U. guys!"

We all turned to her and thanked her with our glance.

"...Okay, Maici," Djneff answered. "Step back." We then heard how he laid a small bomb to make us an exit. We covered our ears and felt the strong blast as the cave shook and dust fell on our heads and shoulders. At last, a real ray of light illuminated our way. We shaded our eyes as we stepped out of the cavern... and then immediately raised our hands upon realizing that there were seven warriors pointing guns at us.

"You're under arrest, B.C.U.," announced one of them.

"Shit..." Jazzy and Gallager quietly groaned.

"Wait a moment!" Maici complained. "Put your guns down! Djneff, I told you I didn't want them threatened! They're with us for now!"

"Sorry, Maici," the huge pilot replied. "But the LND guys are over there." He tilted his head to the right, making us all turn. There was a group of pilots all dressed in black uniforms with shiny, blue stripes. They didn't look the least friendly... "If they see us talking to B.C.U., we'll be in trouble."

"To hell with trouble!" Ukyo growled. "That's my baby you're pointing your gun at, Twist!"

"I'm really sorry, Ukyo..." the pilot she had addressed to replied shyly. "But either they come with us as prisoners, or they stay here as dead men."

"Dead...?" I muttered with fright.

"I'll beat those LND guys to a pulp if I have to; but you keep your guns away from my friends... unless you also want a piece of me," Ukyo threatened.

"Ukyo, don't," Ryu intervened. "Let them have their way, for now."

"But—!"

"Ryu is right, darling," Wilheim interrupted her. "We cannot start inner fights if we are to try to negotiate a truce. Let them take us for now. We shall talk later."

Since, sadly, this was the best option, Ukyo had no choice but to step aside and let the A.N.I. put handcuffs on us.

"Be warned, though," my friend added before they could take us. "If anyone tries to harm them, they'll have to deal with me, first. And I may not be that great a fighter in the air, but on the ground I can whoop any of you."

"We believe you," Djneff answered, pointing at his face. Funny we hadn't noticed before... he had a black eye. "Baiken says 'hi'."

"All right," Maici sighed. "Get them on the ships. However, don't let any of those guys see them. I don't want the LND on our tails."

"Ranma..." I whispered to myself, hoping that I would at least get to see him should the worst come. Though I trusted Maici and Dan, I had my doubts about the rest of the A.N.I. I could only hope that, if we were going to get shot, at least they wouldn't torture us... God knows what was destiny had planned for us now.

Gallager and Dan's conversation kept echoing in my mind...

'If he would've been captured his fate would've been any different.'

'Probably not...'


	14. Chapter 13: Pyrrhic Victory

Hey, everyone.

Wow, I didn't think it'd take me so long to update... Sorry about that. Work's to blame, this time. But that's actually a good thing, I guess.

Well, at last, here it is: the final chapter of the AR saga.

Once more, this chapter goes to my friends on the game. I hope you enjoy it! (Although that goes for everyone else, too :P)

Very special thanks to Maici, who helped me in the creation of this last chapter. Thanks for the corrections, suggestions, and compliments :) Couldn't have done it without you!

Also, I'd like to thank Adrián Araya once again for helping me with some... technical aspects of the story. Crazy minds always come up with great things!

I'll leave you now to read. I hope you all enjoy this. I know I like the result :P

See ya!

_Chapter Thirteen: Pyrrhic Victory_

_Narrator: Ken_

Things were a real mess. And it wasn't like we could do much about it in our current mood. I mean, we were really pissed. It wasn't Wulfpack's job to rescue our friends from the Heartless (in a way), but keeping us from going to help them had been way out of line. Besides, Sora was the only one that could utterly defeat those fiends. We had practically abandoned our friends like sheep to the coyotes. I guess this goes unsaid, but we were mad at ourselves too. We could've done more than just bitch and moan about it.

It was not all hopeless, however. The guys had told us that Jazzy had turned on a device that was letting them know he was still alive and his location. There wasn't a doubt in our hearts that our pals were with him, as well. I know Ryu's a very tough nut to crack, so I knew he was still kicking. Besides, we all knew JazzyJet wasn't stupid: he wouldn't have turned on for his friends to go pick him up unless things had calmed down.

Balance, EvaRaine, Narue, Kobe, and DjFlaco had attended the call and were on their way to Bark. We were all crossing our fingers so that no Heartless or A.N.I. would be there at that time. We didn't want another fight against the opposing nation, especially after Ryu had hit the nail on the head about our other friends. We were really thankful to him: if he hadn't thought of that, it was very likely that we would've accidentally killed one of them.

I wasn't sure if the Wulfpack still felt like fighting. For one hand, they had witnessed a new enemy, far deadlier and more dangerous than the A.N.I. They knew the Heartless were our primary concern at the present time. Nevertheless, we had lost SupraBoy, Garfungle, and Starsiege to the other nation. Chances were our friends' blood was boiling. We surely hoped this wasn't the case. It was time to put a halt to this madness. It was time for a truce.

Of course, it would be difficult to talk the Wulfpack guys into it if we were also angry. We knew we had to calm down, but we just couldn't stop thinking about how they had dragged us away from them.

We had all left the Wulfpack Headquarters and were roaming around the city aimlessly, both trying to calm down and to come up with a plan.

"I know they did it to take care of us," Sora said. "But we can't just leave our friends alone because it's too dangerous. I mean, Siegfried and Wilheim didn't leave Octavius and Ukyo in Hades because it was a deadly mission, right?"

"Right," Siegfried agreed. "I swear, if something happens to any of them because we weren't there, I'll never forgive Wulfpack or the B.C.U."

"Remember they did all this for a reason," Goofy interjected, trying to calm down the excitable lad. "I bet they're also as worried about Jazzy and Gallager as we are about our pals. I think they have a better idea about what we're dealing with, when it comes to ships."

"But we know better, when it comes to the Heartless," Donald quacked. "We could even have taken care of that big one if they had let us try."

"Gwarsh... I don't know..."

"Let's try to forget about that," Felicia said. "There's no use griping over a matter which we can no longer change. Let the past be; we've got to start thinking about what we will do to change this planet's fate. Let's think: how do we get the B.C.U. and the A.N.I. to establish a truce?"

"That's a toughie," Adrian sighed. "Baiken's and Octavius's hatred towards me is child's play compared to how much these guys hate each other."

"I'll say," I murmured. "Well, the most important thing right now is to convince Milky. If he doesn't want to make a truce, there will be no peace. So we'll have to talk him into it."

"He'll laugh in our faces," Siegfried grumbled.

"We still have to try," Sora insisted. "Even Milky has to admit that the Heartless are the biggest threat right now. The B.C.U. can't take on them by themselves alone. We need Arlington's help as well."

"Let's go talk to him," I said. "Like Sora said, there's nothing wrong in trying."

"Unless, of course, they would take that request as a 'spy thing'," Adrian said. "Paranoia is queen here, remember?"

"Sora is the only one who can stop the Heartless for good," Felicia added. "I think Milky will understand if we tell him that."

"Think what you will," Siegfried said with a patronizing tone. "I personally believe he'll think we're crazy."

_(Change of scene)_

"You guys must be on drugs, or something," Milky said with a sarcastic chuckle from behind his desk. "Do you really think that we'll establish a truce with the A.N.I. just because some dark beings are attacking us? I mean, seriously: were you lobotomized?"

Well, at least he didn't hint that we were spies.

"Listen, Milky, we have more of an idea of what we're facing than you," Sora retorted. "We know how dangerous the Heartless can be. So far, we've triumphed over them on our journeys because we know what we're dealing with, for one part. On the other hand, we've also always counted with the help of the world's inhabitants. That means that you've got to help us, unless you want your planet to be an appetizer for the Heartless."

"If you know how to deal with them, we can help you," Bygeniou's leader replied. "But joining forces with Arlington is out of the question."

"You're not paying attention," I said, but before I could go on, he interrupted me.

"No, you're the one's that aren't listening! Were you even fighting yesterday? Didn't you see how many pilots we lost to the A.N.I.? Even the Wulfpack lost a few members, I understand. Do you honestly think that the B.C.U., even your brigade members, will want to fight alongside Arlington after a massacre like that? The best thing that you can hope for is that we get rid of both the Heartless and the A.N.I. No way are we joining forces. No way in hell."

"Listen, Creamy – can I call you Creamy?" Adrian intervened. We didn't react right away: we only managed to glare at him without saying a word.

"No!"

"...How about Lactose?"

"Adrian, how about you make your point?" I grumbled, seeing how Milky's head was about to explode.

"All right, all right... Anyway, hell may be a lot closer than you think, Milky. If you don't get help from somewhere, you'll get skewered, roasted, and breakfasted. Right now, you've got to stick to that immortal (like me) motto: 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'. Sure, the A.N.I. may be your life-long rivals... right now, though, the two of you have one common foe. If you fight against the Heartless _and_ against Arlington... well, why should I tell you again? I guess you're tired of listening that you're going to get gobbled up, huh?"

"The hatred between nations was that which caused that huge monster to appear," Felicia added. "Were you even fighting yesterday? Didn't you see how many ships got destroyed by that abomination? I sure did! And I saw no less than thirty ships trying to attack it at once. None of them did squat!" She approached Milky's desk and banged it with her fist. She meant business, all right... "It'll be even less fighters attacking that thing next time, if you don't put a halt to this war. Try to use that big melon on top of your shoulders for once, hmm??"

"Easy, Felicia..." Goofy said with a nervous chuckle, gently drawing her away from the desk. "And to think you haven't spent that much time with Baiken..."

"So, what do you think, Milky?" Donald asked, leaning presumptuous and confidently on the table. "It's a matter or staying alive or else. I think the answer to that riddle is pretty simple."

"You guys don't understand, do you?" the man laughed desperately. "Even if I did want to make peace with the A.N.I., there's still Jester! You don't know what that sociopath is like! If I went to try and negotiate a truce, he would have me shot as soon as I stepped out of the ship."

"Why don't you offer him to come here?" Sora suggested. He, of course, immediately realized how idiotic the proposal sounded.

"Sure, I'll send him a letter after lunch," Milky sardonically scoffed.

"It's not as hopeless as you think," Siegfried intervened. He took a deep breath and then confessed: "You see, we have friends in Arlington. I'm sure they're trying to convince Jester to make a truce as we speak."

"Friends? In Arlington?" the man asked, his voice turning into a suspicious whisper.

"Way to go, Siegfried," Donald murmured angrily.

"No, wait; Siegfried is right," I hastily said. "If we want this to work, then we've got to trust the B.C.U. as they have trusted us so far."

"Well, not exactly like that," Will's brother grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Siegfried, don't," Felicia hissed.

"What did I say? It's not like – besides Wulfpack – they welcomed us with open—"

"I mean it: stop. Just stop."

"Listen, Milky, this is how it happened..." I said, not minding my friends' discussion and explained him everything about our arrival to the planet, how we had gotten separated from our friends, and about the Heartless and what they were doing here.

We all thought perhaps that would make him realize that a truce was the only way to go... He didn't quite react the way we hoped he would.

"You guys are talking out of your ass," he groaned. "Get your butts out of here. We'll be able to handle this: you worry about your own business."

"Are you deaf or stupid?!" I roared. "What the heck are you—!" But before I could keep insulting him, Sora stepped forth as he signaled me to shut up.

"Okay: have it your way," he said. "But what if Jester was the one who proposed the truce? What would you do, then?"

"Jester?! No doubt you guys are stoned!" he laughed mordantly.

"Hypothetically speaking, of course!" the boy added.

"What, are you going to turn that major son of a bitch all cuddly and loving?"

"We can try."

"Ha!! He'll shoot you down the minute he sees your ships!"

"Not if we're not piloting a B.C.U. aircraft," Sora retorted.

Milky stared at him in silence for a couple of seconds before letting out yet another chuckle. Shaking his head, he said: "All right, do whatever you want. If Jester were to accede with a truce, I'll think about it. If you want to commit suicide, who am I to stop you? Just make sure you say your good-byes to your friends in Wulfpack: it's unlikely you'll ever see them again."

"Think what you will," the Keyblade bearer said and with that we left Milky's office.

"You're thinking about using the Gummi ship, aren't you?" Donald deduced, to which Sora nodded with a confident smile.

"Let's just hope Jester isn't as terrible as Milky says," Siegfried said.

"He'll probably be as stubborn as him, at least," Felicia guessed.

At that moment, three of the Wulfpack members spotted us and caught up with us. They were Yukunism, Gallger, and Atermel.

"Guys, where have you been?" asked Atermel. "We've been looking for you."

"Is something wrong?" I inquired.

"Nothing's particularly right... We were just worried about you," Gallger said.

"Don't worry, guys," Sora replied, somewhat dryly. "We'll be all right."

"Are you still mad at us?" asked Yukunism. "Listen, I know you guys wanted to help your friends, but staying out there would've been very dangerous."

"Yeah, but leaving Jazzy alone behind is much better," Siegfried groused.

"Jazzy is a monster: he can do better than any of us, better than any of you, for that matter," Gallger said.

"Listen, leave us be for the time being, okay?" Felicia interrupted. "We'll be all right once they're back."

"Sorry, Felicia..." Gallger mumbled regretfully.

"Actually..." Atermel said. "We do have something to tell you. Balence, DJ, Eva and the others just got back. They're in our Headquarters."

"Are our friends there?" I asked, but before we gave them a chance to answer, my buddies were already making their way to Wulfpack's command center. I ended up running behind them as well.

When we came in, we immediately noticed Balence, Eva, and Kobe – three of the pilots who had been sent to rescue Jazzy, Gallager and our friends – sitting on the sofas with an expression of defeat on their faces, accompanied by Spazzy, Sniperdog and Tricky. Of course, an amalgamation of feelings began to flow through my heart. I became very pissed, felt utterly betrayed, and was quite scared. I would just bore you if I told you why, I'm sure... The thing was that I couldn't even speak, because I wanted to express all of these feelings at the same time and the words simply got scrambled in my mouth. Whatever the case, though, there was no need to let those guys know with words what was going through my head: my face said it all.

My friends, however, didn't find themselves in this, shall we say, predicament. Felicia expressed, I think, what we were all thinking in just three words.

"What the heck?!" she exclaimed.

"Where are they?" Sora hastened to ask.

"...They weren't in Bark," Eva answered with a loud sigh.

"Oh, really, you think?!" Siegfried shouted. "How'd you figure that out?! You know what'd be really nice? If you had let us help them in the first place!! Now Jazzy, Gallager, Ryu, and my brother are missing! They could be dead, because of you!!"

"They're not dead," Balence retorted. "Jazzy's signal hasn't faded yet."

"Okay... where are they, then?" I finally manage to ask.

"...The signal is coming from Arlington city."

By the way he had said that, he was sure those were bad news. For our part, though, we weren't sure.

"Well, we have one more reason to go there, I guess," Donald declared. We all immediately felt all of the brigade's members' eyes upon us. You know we were expecting it, I'm sure...

"Are you seriously thinking about going there?" asked Tricky, unable to hide his stupefaction.

"Well, have you got a better idea?" I asked.

"How about stay here and don't die?"

"That's good," Siegfried said with a sardonic tone. "Now, would you be so kind as to think of something else? How about a plan that involves rescuing our friends?"

"Do you seriously believe we're okay with what's going on?" Eva interrupted. "We too are very sad about Jazzy and Gallager. But they understand that there is nothing we can do, I'm sure. If we go near that place, we'll just be wasting our lives..."

"Oh, so you're just giving up without even trying?"

"How about you jump into a three-hundred-feet tall cliff?" Atermel grumbled. "If you survive the freaking fall, then we can talk about storming into Arlington."

"It's not a matter of storming into the city; it's about making a truce with the A.N.I.!" Sora claimed.

"Oh, man, we've lost them..."

"Okay, enough. Seriously," Adrian interrupted before all of them could start mumbling about how crazy we were. We were sort of tired of hearing that we were out of our minds when in reality we were the sanest people in the city (perhaps the vampire was an exception, but that was a different sort of lunacy... and he acted quite seriously at that time, by the way). "You did see the Heartless, right? Those black ships that in the end kicked our butts? Yeah? Well, those guys are our biggest worry right now. I'm really getting tired of saying this: put your differences aside for now and concentrate on beating the Heartless. The B.C.U. alone won't stand a chance."

"Team up with the A.N.I.?" groused Sniperdog. "Are you seriously asking me to fight side by side with the bastards that killed my brother? What's next? Buy DoubleEagle some ice-cream? Have a few drinks with the rest of the Goons? Is that what you're asking??"

"The ice-cream and the drinks are up to you: I'm just asking you to save your skin."

"You guys are freaking retarded!!"

You know... every time Jam, Ukyo, and Baiken had a fight (when the first two hated each other, that is), I always wished, during those times, that Tish and Camille were there to put some order. At that precise moment, though, the one I missed was none other than Baiken, because harsh words wouldn't do the trick alone: we needed some nasty language and an 'I'm going to beat the living crap out of you' glare to go with them.

"Guys, easy! Easy!" Araya, who had apparently been standing by the entrance along with some other Wulfpack members for several minutes now, shouted, doing his best to settle everyone down. "Before trying to bite their heads off, let's hear what they have to say, okay?"

"Jazzy would never approve this!" UpDaBut roared.

"Number one: regarding that, I have my doubts. And, number two: Jazzy's not here. So shut up and let them talk."

"Guys, you now know that we have friends on the other side and that they're fighting for the A.N.I.," Sora hastened to say, before the Wulfpack members could start yelling again. "There is no 'good guys' and 'bad guys' here. We're on different sides... I'm sure our friends on Arlington are thinking about a truce, too. They know how dangerous the Heartless are."

"Okay," Araya said, with a sigh. "Let's go talk to Milky."

"We were one step ahead of you," Adrian replied. "And he told us that we had our heads up our butts."

"He's absolutely right about that!!" Sniperdog began, but Araya signaled him to be silent. Nevertheless, he refused to shut up just like that. "Are you going nuts too, Araya?? Do you really want to fight with those fucking sons of bitches?!"

"No, but I don't feel like dying just yet," the pilot sharply replied. "And maybe the A.N.I. are thinking the same. I bet there's someone sane in there that knows they need our help to get rid of those monsters."

"Sounds logical to me," DjFlaco sighed.

"DJ... do you realize what you're saying?" Eva asked. In her eyes, I saw that she trusted him, but she was still quite skeptical about this measure.

"I don't like it a bit, but we've got to stick with the lesser of two evils." He sat down and shook his head. "We're going to have to use your ship if we don't want to get blasted to pieces right when they see us."

"We had already thought about that, don't worry," Sora said, pleased to see that they were at last acceding to our plan.

"Only a handful of us should go with you," Araya suggested.

"It's not like all the brigade will fit in the Gummi ship, so don't worry about packing yet," Adrian replied, regaining his good humor.

'Well, Ryu, we're coming to get you soon, it seems,' I thought to myself. 'This'll make up for that time when we fought against Ganondorf...'

_Narrator: Wilheim_

It was as we had expected: the A.N.I. had lost no time and had placed us inside Arlington's prison. It was just a matter of time before our 'trial' took place...

Even though JazzyJet and Gallager were very grim about the situation, I argued that the Tactical Aggression members had probably placed us inside that penal complex in order to protect us from the rest of the A.N.I. If they had hidden us within their headquarters, the authorities would have searched us and attempted to kill us. Truly, I doubt they would have ever defeated us, but I was sure Maici and her group meant well. Our two friends, however, were not as optimistic as I was.

"Trials are worth squat," Gallager said dourly. "We're going to be guilty no matter what, and we'll be sentenced to death. It's inevitable... might as well as accept it, guys. We're done for."

"Why are you so sure?" Akane asked with a bit of fright in her voice.

"It's best not to think of trials as trials per se," Jazzy replied. "Try to look at them as if they were... bureaucracy. They have to sign some papers, say some words... and then they use us as target practice. Gallager's right..." He let out a long, low sigh as he leaned against our cell's wall, hopelessness shinning gloomily through his eyes. "We're dead." And then they said no more.

In another time, I would have thought this as well, when I was certain that the world was a cruel place that only wanted to see suffering through my glance and hear pain through my voice. Yet I had seen that life is as one makes it and did not wish to remain sad and miserable all the time. I was confident in my strength and that of my friends: should it come to it, we would surely manage to escape.

Even so, I did not think we would have to recur to fleeing on our own. If what Gallager and Jazzy said was true, then my beloved and the others would know and would no doubt come to our rescue. My darling had proved her love for me time and again, and I was sure she would not let us astray. Because of that, I was at ease and did my best to calm down my scared companions.

We remained there for quite a long time. An entire day passed by. Even then, I did not despair. Surely our friends were working something out. For the first time in an eternity, it had seemed, I was quite calm despite the situation, whereas my friends were beginning to despair. Even Ryu seemed a little nervous, which surprised me, for he is one of the most serene persons I have met. It was quite strange, because I was usually one of the negative folk. To be the only positive person in the cell was very odd.

Anyway, I did my best not to pay any heed to this detail and remained as calm as possible and tried to soothe my friends.

"It is like Cloud says: 'Everything is OK'," I quoted. "We just have to be patient. You will see that there is nothing to worry about. Our friends are certainly going through... the bureaucratic process, if you will, to secure our release so we can start discussing a truce."

"Was there something on the water you drank?" Gallager sardonically asked. "The A.N.I. don't want a truce. They want to see every B.C.U. dead."

"Do you think that Tactical Aggression betrayed us?" Akane guessed.

"I didn't say that... But I do think, however, that they give a damn about their own asses, and that's why we're here. If they would've tried to help us escape, they would've been shot, like we're going to be in a few hours."

"We're going to have to start thinking about an escape plan," Ryu declared. "I'm not just about willing to die by lead poisoning..."

"If the time comes, then we will think of something," I said. "Meanwhile, trust our friends. If all else fails, no doubt they will aid us in our getaway."

"Probably, but you can never be too sure." He stared at me for a second and smiled. "I'm glad to see you're doing so well, Will. Honestly, I didn't think I'd ever see this mature side in you."

"I resent that remark, Ryu," I replied, half-meaning it. "Now that I know that my Ukyo is safe, I trust that she will come to save us."

"She'll be putting herself in mortal danger by doing so," Jazzy commented.

"I doubt guns will worry her. Bullets are as effective on her as a bucket of water that tries to drown a river of lava. Moreover, Jam, Octavius, Leon, and Baiken are with her."

"Okay: suppose we do get out of here," Ryu said. "What about trying to establish a truce between the B.C.U. and the A.N.I.? Don't you think we ought to be thinking about that?"

"I will worry about it when the time to worry about it comes," I answered calmly.

At that moment, we heard how the soldier guarding our cells began to talk to somebody. He closed the door and footsteps approached us. A scent reached my nose and I instantly knew who it was. Without wasting a second, I raced to the bars and waited eagerly for my beloved to get to where we were being held.

She stepped into the light in front of our cell, an expression of dread haunting her face. She immediately ran to the bars and we held hands and kissed. While I might have been calm and reticent, my heart had still longed for her touch, her smell, her eyes... I was so happy to see her.

"I knew you would be here," I whispered, between quick kisses.

"The A.N.I. are insane if they think I'm going to leave you here to die," she murmured.

"Ukyo!" Akane exclaimed in a low voice. "You're here!"

"I'm here to get you guys out," she answered. "All of you."

"Thank God!"

"You mean... they really were planning on killing us?" Ryu asked.

"Maici told me that trials are more of a bureaucratic process than an actual judgment. They'll have to shoot at a wall, because I'm not going to let them lay a finger on you."

"I knew they were up to no good," Gallager said. He approached the bars and let out a sigh. I did not know if he was thankful or despaired. "You shouldn't try this. They're going to shoot you if they find out you're trying to help us."

"I'd like to see them take a shot at me," Ukyo answered with a confident smile.

"Ukyo..." Akane murmured as she clenched to the bars. "Is Ranma with you? He's still all right... isn't he?"

"He's outside, with the rest of the gang," my beloved responded. "He's worried sick about you. I guess you might as well as stop fighting, for a change."

"Yeah... it'd be nice, I think..." our friend shyly said.

"Thank you for this, my princess," I said and kissed her one more time.

"No need to thank me. I'm sure you would've done the same thing, baby. Now, step back: if we try to force the bars like this, we'll be shocked, so I'm going to have to override the security system."

"Can you do that?" Jazzy asked.

"Yep: I stole the guard's card."

We got away from the bars as my beloved began to work on the keyboard near our cell. However, we all froze the moment we heard how the prison's opened. Again, we heard footsteps approaching our cell. Ukyo hid the card she had planned to use to rescue us and stood innocently by us. Moments later, Maici came into view.

"Oh... hi, Maici," Ukyo greeted, doing her best to sound as dry as possible.

"What are you doing here?" Maici asked suspiciously.

"I... I came here to talk to the guys," she answered. "I... I have to say good-bye to my boyfriend." Not to discard my darling's effort, but she needed to adopt a more convincing attitude if she were to fool Maici who, seemingly, was not an idiot.

"...Give me the card," the woman said, with a sad sigh, as she extended her hand.

JazzyJet and Gallager shook their heads and turned away in disappointment. However, I had all but lost faith in Ukyo. Surely my beloved would think of something. Nevertheless, she would have to do so fast, for she had been caught off guard and could pretend no more.

"No," she answered, firmly, in the end.

"Ukyo, please..." Maici calmly insisted.

"You'll have to take it from me by force. I like you, Maici: don't force me to hurt you. Walk away, please... and don't say anything to anybody. I'd die for my friends: there's nothing you can do to stop me."

Tactical Aggression's leader slowly put her hand down and delicately approached my beloved. She spoke again, but this time she did so in a whisper:

"I know I can't stop you. I'm not trying to do so: I'm only trying to help you as well as ourselves."

Ukyo looked at her with confusion and found no answer. I decided to intervene.

"What are you talking about, Maici? What is on your mind?"

She walked towards me and replied:

"I want what you want. I want a truce."

As relieving as this statement might have sounded to my ears, Gallager was unable to contain a sarcastic laugh.

"A truce... Sure, why not?" he chuckled. "I bet that negotiating peace will be a piece of cake... after all, you did secure our release, didn't you? Oh, you didn't? Whoops, I may be wrong! Thanks for trying: try again next year."

"If we don't do something about all of this, we'll be wiped off the face of the world," the woman insisted and she clenched on the bars as well. "It won't work unless you cooperate: we need to show the A.N.I. that the B.C.U. aren't that different and that we have to put aside our conflict so that we don't die!"

Gallager shook his head and sat down. He had no intention of crossing any more words. JazzyJet thought differently.

"Maici... I respect you," he stated. "You've always been a dangerous opponent, and you've killed many of our companions. But you've always had honor. Even enemies can have respect for one another, I think." He paused and took a deep breath before going on. "You and I are on the same page: I want a truce, too. Yet try telling that to our nation's leader. He would never accept it. He hates Jester. As long as Jester's in charge, Milky won't even consider a truce."

"I know what you mean, JazzyJet, and I also think you're an honorable opponent," Maici politely commented. "And I know what you mean about the nation's leader: Jester not only despises Milky, but everything that's related to the B.C.U. That's why I'm not counting on him for this peace treaty to take place."

"You're thinking about making a truce with the B.C.U. without any of the leaders' consent??" Gallager interrupted with a shocked tone. Indeed; Maici's words had been disturbing. Yet, rather than discouraging the pilot more, the A.N.I. warrior got his full attention. "How they heck do you plan to do that?"

"Well, for starters, not many of our warriors like Jester and his brigade. That's one thing on our favor."

"Wow... I guess we have more in common than I thought," Jazzy mumbled.

"Milky too? Oh, I'm off the point... never mind," Maici said. "Bark's battle was a disaster for both nations. There was already discontent before that: now there's practically a revolution threat going on. People are scared and have no idea of what to do. You guys say you know how to destroy those things: we need your help," she added, glancing at Ryu, Akane, Ukyo, and I. "I know this is asking a lot... but we'll die if you don't aid us. Really: I wish I could say that we'll take care of this ourselves. But that's just not possible: we can't focus our energies to take out these foes if we're fighting against the other nation. And I'm tired of fighting against the B.C.U. What ever happened before, it's in the past: we have to forge Phillon's future together; otherwise, we'll destroy ourselves and the planet, if it doesn't get devoured by the Heartless before, that is." She paused for a moment and sighed. "We need you to tell the people in A.N.I. and in B.C.U. that you know how to defeat those things. We need you to bring them hope and to let them know that, after this one last battle, where we will fight as companions rather than enemies, there will be peace..."

"I would like to do nothing more than this," I ventured to answer. "But, for my part, at least, I cannot guarantee that there will not be any more battles. We will rid this world of the Heartless: I do not have any doubts regarding that. But the peace between nations is up to you, for we will not remain here forever—"

"I know, I know..." Maici interrupted. "But if people lose hope, then we're as good as dead." She looked at me in the eyes as she said: "I'm sorry that I had Ukyo fight against you. If I had known..."

"Maici, it's not your fault," Ukyo quickly intervened and put her hand caringly on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it anymore. Like you said, it's in the past."

The woman nodded silently and discretely wiped off a tear that had threatened to come out of her left eye. She walked about in silence for a few moments and then she told my beloved with a determined tone: "You and your friends will be safe and together again. I promise I'll make this happen. You and your darling belong together..."

Touched by Maici's spirit, my beloved did her best not to weep. She nodded gratefully and shook the pilot's hand. And in return, Maici gently leaned forth and sweetly kissed Ukyo's brow, assuring her with that tender gesture that things would be all right. Indeed, she was a true friend who had reached her limit: she would not let a war get the best of her.

Right then, the door opened a third time. Another person came into the prison. We turned to see who it was, but the newcomer was well hidden in the shadows. We all remained silent and still for a while, not knowing what to expect. At last, however, she spoke.

"Are you here to help? Or are we going to have to knock you out too?" There was no mistaking that voice.

"No, no, Baiken, it's... it's okay." Ukyo hastily said and Baiken stepped into the light. I could not help but to smile upon seeing her. "Maici wants to give us a hand. She has a plan... right?" my beloved added, quickly turning to the pilot.

"What's that about knocking me out 'too'?" asked Maici with suspicion.

"Oh, it's nothing," Baiken calmly replied as she approached our cell. "Let's just say that, since Ukyo was taking too long, I decided to come in and see what the hell was going on. The guard wouldn't allow me to go through... So he's taking a nap right now." She looked at me and her eyes seemed to be relieved, although she did not smile. "How are you guys holding up?"

"We've had better days, I reckon," I answered. "I'm glad to see you are safe, Baiken."

"Well, it's good to see you're still in one piece too, kid," she replied. "So, what's the plan, boss?" she asked Maici.

"I'll put it to you this way: the next trial will be all but about signing papers and shooting," the brave woman answered.

"What do you mean by that?" Jazzy questioned.

"I'll raise my voice during your judgment. I'll get everyone to listen. Trust me: all Tactical Aggression will support you."

"You think you can get everyone in your brigade to help?"

"Well, it won't be easy, that's for sure," Maici replied, while scratching the back of her head. "A good friend... a brother of ours died during that last battle. I think it's safe to assume that the guys will be a bit reluctant at first. Nevertheless, they are all good-hearted and I'm sure that they'll listen to reason." She then focused her sight on Jazzy and approached him. "What about you? Do you think you can talk Wulfpack into making a truce with us?"

"Like you said... it won't be easy," Jazzy sighed. "Two of our men died during that last battle. I bet that my companions are probably dying to get a piece of all of you. I can only trust that their desire for a truce (if there is any) will overcome their anger..." He unconsciously turned to Gallager upon saying these last words. The latter did not remain quiet upon this unaware insinuation.

"If you're referring to me and Shadaoh, I'm still angry, of course," he admitted. "He killed my best friend, after all... But he apologized for it, at least. That, and my wish for peace greatly overcomes my desire for revenge."

"Very good," Jazzy said. "Just help us on the trial and I promise I'll do my best to aid you establish a truce."

"When does the judgment start?" Akane asked.

"In about four hours," Maici answered. "Be prepared: not many people are going to be okay with this initially. We'll have to talk them into it, and in order to do that, you'll have to keep a cool head." And with those words, she instinctively glanced at Baiken. Realizing her mistake, she turned her head as quickly as possible away from the woman, yet it had been too late.

"Hey, I'll keep calm. I'm all up for the truce," she stated. "However, if some fucker like White-Turd-One starts causing trouble, I'm going to— Goddamn it, Wilheim, stop laughing!!"

"I'm sorry," I chuckled. "I suppose I am never going to get used to your foul language. Besides, it has been a while, so it has become a bit new again."

"Fan-fucking-tastic," she groused, rolling her eye, causing me to chuckle even more. "Whatever... okay, I'll try to stay cool. But you've been warned."

"As long as you make a point if you choose to unsheathe your sword, I won't have any objections," Ukyo said.

_(Change of scene)_

By the look of things, it seemed that the A.N.I. did not have trials often, for the entire nation (or most of it) was standing around us, booing us as we made our way to the court. I have to say that it was the most unorthodox court I had ever seen: it was on lower floor, surrounded by walls, with no ceiling. It gave me the impression that the sky and the clouds would be our judges and I shivered. Of course, what was most irregular about all this were the hundreds of soldiers surrounding the court, demanding that the trial be a short one and our execution be a torturous one. It was not the least comforting, as you may imagine. However, amongst the irate crowd, I recognized my beloved, our other friends, Maici, and what seemed to be her brigade. I realized then that all that we could do was to wait for them to start speaking.

All soldiers appeared to be equal in rank, even the judges (for there were many). It appeared that the leaders were nowhere near, for the time being. Perhaps, I wondered, this would be an advantage...

"Soldiers of Bygeniou," the judge who was sitting in the highest chair. "You're accused of murderer and treason! How do you plead?"

"Damn it, kill them already!!" cried the mob.

"They're guilty, but they're still alive! What's wrong with that picture?"

"I want to take a shot at them! Hey, judges! Come on! I'll buy you dinner!!"

"They must be allowed to live."

This last statement echoed fiercely and made its way to all the corners of the city itself, muting all other voices and forcing the men and women about to turn to Maici, who had firmly spoken these words.

"Did she say what I think she said?" mumbled voices here and there.

"We mustn't kill them. It's time we forged a truce with the B.C.U.," Maici said with resolve.

As you might have expected, this caused uproar amongst the crowd. Confusion and anger could be heard in the soldiers' voices. Even the judges looked as if the cat had caught their tongues. But Maici and her brigade remained unyielding to the turmoil.

"...Order!" the highest ranking judge finally found his voice. "Order!!" But once everyone quieted down, he was unsure of what to say.

"Tell us what's on your mind, Maici," a soldier calmly suggested. He did not seem upset, but rather curious about what Tactical Aggression had to say.

"You saw that monster, right, Mosfet? The one that appeared in Bark," the woman answered. "We made that horrible creature, with our loathing for each other. It's only going to get worse, unless we start working together."

"When you say that we made that monster, are you talking about a metaphor, or do you mean that we literally fabricated it with hatred?" Mosfet asked, with a frown.

"She means exactly that, Mosfet," my Ukyo intervened. "Those things that attacked us – we've fought against them many times before. In fact, the Heartless are the reason we're here: to wipe them out. But this time they're way too strong."

"Heartless gain strength by consuming the darkness inside peoples' hearts," Leon explained. "So far, this is the world with the darkest people we've seen in our journeys." He shook his head and nearly slapped himself. Even Baiken glared at him as he said these words, and she is not precisely the best diplomat within our group. "That's not what I meant," he hastened to say.

"So you mean we're all bastards?" One of the pilots challenged. "Is that what you're saying, you sorry excuse of a—"

"He apologized, let him finish," Jam interrupted.

"What I meant..." our friend went on. "Is that this world is at war, and neither side seems interested in helping us get rid of those monsters. Instead of that, they only think about destroying each other, and that only makes the Heartless stronger. Unless you do something about it, they'll devour this world."

"Well, if we have to stop them, we'll do it ourselves," said another soldier. "We don't need B.C.U.'s help for that."

"Listen, dude, any other day, I would've agreed with you," Dan responded. "But today's different: the B.C.U. saved our lives. If it weren't for them, Maici and I would be dead now."

"Sure, save a couple of people and that'll make up for the dozens of pilots you've killed. Do the math, Shadaoh."

"If you keep that up, this world will be destroyed," Ryoga announced. "And besides, our friends are down there. They've fought against the Heartless too, and they can help."

"Oh, so that means that this is all about saving your friends? All this crap about the Heartless and the war between is just dumb talk! You're nothing but a bunch of phonies!"

A new commotion took place once more at the same time that Baiken slapped the back of Ryoga's head.

"Order!!" the judge cried. "I said order!!" When all was quiet again, he looked at our friends with an inquiring glance. "You mean to say that these people, like you, are not from this world?"

"...That's right," Ryoga sighed. "We got separated by a group of monsters. Tactical Aggression saved us, and the B.C.U. saved them."

"I suppose if we don't want interference from the outside, then it is only fair, we don't condemn these people."

His words made one thing clear: the members of the court were secretly contemplating the 'What if...?' should there be peace between nations. Otherwise, they would have already sentenced us to death. What is more: they would not have let Maici interfere initially. Things were not as hopeless as Gallager had thought at first.

"They fought against us! They deserve to die!!" wailed a young pilot.

"They could just as easily as fought by our side, WhiteHawkOne and Tactical Aggression's newest members could have been our enemies," the judge calmly explained.

"Like I care... I could've just as easily condemned one of them to death: especially that crippled bitch."

Though I was aware that the best thing I could do was to remain quiet and let our friends do the negotiating. However, I refused to stand by idly when he was blatantly insulting one of my companions.

"Do not talk to her like that, imbecile!" I roared, causing my nearby friends to shush me with low voices.

"I won't allow any murdering traitor to speak to me like that! I'll kill you, you hear me?!" he retorted and the threat of yet another uproar became imminent.

"If you want to kill me, White-Piss-One, take your shot! I'm ready and waiting!" Baiken challenged. "I'll just beat the crap out of you again, like always, pathetic moron. And who are you to call him a traitor? Why don't you tell everyone how you ran away like a fucking cockroach when the lights go on and left your friend Earl to die?"

The racket came to a halt the moment Baiken finished saying these words. Everyone turned to WhiteHawkOne, demanding an explanation with their glance.

"What... what are you talking about?" the pilot stuttered.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, you piece of shit," Baiken snarled. "Your buddy was screaming for help and you just took off because you knew you wouldn't be able to use your gay Town Portals. You don't even try. You're just a spoiled, little fucker. Wait a minute, what am I doing, talking to you? It's the same as talking to a wall."

"You... shut up, you fucker!!" wailed WhiteHawkOne, filled by rage.

"Come here and get your medicine, cocksucker," the woman challenged.

"Order!!" the judges (thankfully) shouted. "You will be dealt with later," the one on the highest chair said to WhiteHawkOne in a dark tone. "Let us carry on with this trial. Although they did fight for the enemy, these travelers could not have known any better. I am sure my fellows think the same," he added, turning to the other judges, who limited themselves to nod in silence. "They are to be freed. However, we cannot consent criminals such as JazzyJet and Gallager to be released so lightly."

"But they should not be condemned so harshly," Maici interjected. "They have shown their desire for peace. JazzyJet, as you know, is the leader of the Wulfpack brigade, and—"

"Laugh-pack is more like it," WhiteHawkOne interrupted.

Jazzy and Gallager were seemingly eager to answer to that remark, but I put my hand on the first's chest and shook my head. It had been stupid of me to reply a few moments ago, yet I was now in a much less compromising position. Someone else would have to respond to WhiteHawkOne, and that someone turned out to be my darling.

"You're already in trouble, White-Jackass-One. Stop making it worse on yourself."

I took a deep breath and decided to intervene.

"May I speak, your honor?" I asked.

Everyone glanced at me and remained silent for a few moments. My friends knew that this time I would not make any inopportune remarks. Nevertheless, the judges were not certain.

After a while of hesitation, they decided to let me talk. A silent nod was all they gave me.

"The situation is quite simple: you need to establish a truce with the Bygeniou nation if you are to survive the onslaught of the Heartless. Killing these two will only make this task more difficult. You need them alive to start negotiating."

"Wow, he's an iceberg," one of the pilots muttered aloud.

"I speak the way I do because I am aware that you do not give a damn about my personal feelings towards Jazzy and Gallager," I quickly answered, while turning to the fighter. "But if you must know, I will not..." I had to stop and think about what I was about to say. I had to choose my words carefully. "I care for them. They are good people who welcomed us to this world and who saved our lives. I feel grateful to them and want nothing more than to return the favor to them by aiding them in the field of battle, with the A.N.I. as allies."

But before the judges could digest my words, a menacing voice boomed:

"I understand that this trial began half-an-hour ago. That's twenty-five more minutes than you, judges, need to condemn the B.C.U. I want to hear an explanation and afterwards, I want them shot. All of them."

We turned to the voice and found a group of men that had apparently just arrived. They all wore the same logo on their jumpsuits: the letters LND. The man who had spoken was tall and thin; his skin was as pale as the snow that takes the breath of the living away with its chill. He had small, pale-blue eyes and a crooked face. The pilots about did not challenge him as he said these words, which led me to believe that he was none other than Jester, escorted by his brigade.

However, after gathering enough courage, Tactical Aggression's members intervened again.

"Jester, a truce is a must," a pilot standing next to Maici said. "We have to forget our differences with the B.C.U. momentarily if we don't want to get crushed."

"I will not suffer the B.C.U. to get away with their crimes, and neither should you," Jester retorted dryly. "Surely everyone here agrees. But if Tactical Aggression so much wishes to remain by these traitors' side, then so it shall be: I will have you all shot."

"So much for diplomacy," grumbled another Tactical Aggression warrior.

"Let me handle this, Djneff," Maici told him and then turned to Arlington's leader. "You are wrong, Jester. A lot of people here want to make a truce. The problem is that they're too afraid that you'll kill them because you'll think they're traitors for wanting peace."

"I think Jester's right," WhiteHawkOne shamelessly interrupted. "I think they should all be killed."

"Either what Maici said, or they're just sorry ass-kissers," Baiken observed.

"You should be killed, too. We can tolerate outsiders in our great city, but not when they come here and disturb the natural course of things," Jester arrogantly said. "Judges, impose your sentence now. And if anyone else says a word in their defense, I will have them shot like the traitors they are."

Like Djneff had said, it appeared that civilized talk would no longer walk. Our friends discretely put themselves on guard, as did we. Should we get sentenced to stand by a wall and take the enemy's bullets, we would have to make our way out of that place by force.

Yet the desire for peace overcame intimidation. After remaining silent and thoughtful for a while, the judge turned to Jester and said in a loud, clear voice:

"I will not sentence them."

Jester glared at the officer with the fury that only a dictator can have when he has been defied by one of his subordinates.

"What did you say?" he growled.

The crowd was speechless. Their faces revealed that they could not believe what the judge had just done. Justice had finally found a way out of the man's mouth.

"I said I will not sentence them," the officer repeated with an even louder and firmer tone than before. "You might be our nation's leader, but this is my trial, and I have the last word. It will be best for you if you stand down."

"How dare you speak to me that way?? I will not tolerate a mindless puppet to defy me in such a way! I'll have you killed!!"

"You are calling me mindless?? Fine! Let's get something straight, Jester: your stubbornness and thirst for battle have cost us more lives than we care to count for. I know that there are many of our brothers here that long for peace: I am one of them. You may mark me as traitor, but know this: there are more people here that despise your leadership than those who long to continue warring."

"You'll regret your words..." Jester grumbled with a menacing voice.

Nevertheless...

"He's right! Nobody likes you, LND!" a voice rose from the crowd.

"How dare you!!" the leader's men yelled in anger.

"You're all a bunch of sons of bitches!" cried another man.

"Because of your fucking tactics I lost my brother!" a woman declared.

"You don't give a crap about us! You only care about remaining leaders!"

The insults and accusations rumbled on for nearly five minutes. Jester and his men tried to intimidate the crowd, yet the A.N.I. would not receive another order from him. Those who favored LND remained quiet, not daring to speak a word for them. The judges did not interrupt this racket: it was time for Jester to be relieved of his command.

JazzyJet and Gallager were unable to believe their ears and eyes. The truce between Bygeniou and Arlington was no longer a lunatic's idea: it was a likely reality. In a world were there is only shadows, one would have never expected to find a ray of light. Sora's words echoed in my mind as the crowd rambled on against LND: "There is always a light that never goes out."

In the end, Jester and his men realized that there was nothing that they could do either convince or threaten the A.N.I. to support their cause. Amidst the affronts, finger pointing, and discontent, they had no choice but to turn their backs on their fellow pilots and walk away. There were some who cheered and some who mocked them when this happened. But I saw that Tactical Aggression remained quiet and they all shook their head solemnly. Hatred had rooted in those men and women's hearts – void of all good feelings, they knew they had not seen the last of them.

Once every LND had left and everyone had quieted down, the judge ventured to address the B.C.U.

"Tell us: would it be possible for our nations to establish a truce?"

Our friends looked at each other and, after a few moments of hesitation, they nodded.

"I had my doubts at first," Jazzy admitted. "But now that I've seen your desire for a cease-fire, then I'm sure that we can do it. We're just as tired as you are of this war. However, I'm not certain if our leader will be up for it. Although... well, let's just say that we have more things in common than you might imagine."

"In that case, we will acknowledge you as ambassadors from Bygeniou from now on," the judge said. "You will help us to establish this pact so we can defend ourselves from this greater threat."

"...Thank you, your honor," Jazzy and Gallager muttered, still incapable to believe what had just happened. For our part, we smiled and let out relieved sighs and so did our friends and Tactical Aggression's members.

Right then, we heard the sound of an engine approaching the city. The noise was different than the one a gear made when it was flying. The pilots were unable to tell what sort of vessel was nearing Arlington – yet my friends and I knew those ship's thrusters well and our hearts leapt with joy.

_Narrator: Ken_

"I don't know if this is good or bad," I muttered. "It's like the whole nation is out there, waiting for us."

"Don't be so paranoid, Ken," Felicia grumbled. I think my nervousness was making her edgy. "Try to stay positive... and if you say something about being realistic, I'm going to enlarge that scar," she hissed, turning to Adrian, who had obviously been warned just in time.

"You can't widen it: I'm invincible," the vampire answered, his smirk widening.

"Ah, stop it! I'm not in the mood."

"Aw, you're turning into a fun-aunt-Baiken yourself?"

"Fun-aunt-Baiken...?" Felicia mumbled. She remained silent for a few moments, and then neither of us could help it: we laughed it up. "Okay, just promise me that you won't call her like that as long as she lives."

Adrian didn't reply. Instead, his smile grew bigger and crazier.

"I mean it! If you don't then—you know what? Do whatever you want. But I'm not going to help you if you're dumb enough to tease her that way."

"I can't promise anything," the vampire chuckled.

"It's strange that their cannons didn't fire on us," Tricky murmured, without paying the least attention to our stupid conversation. "I suppose that neither our radars nor theirs can spot this sort of ship."

"We're still not safe, though... we have to hope that they don't fire on us when we come out of the ship," Narue sighed.

Five Wulfpack members accompanied us: Tricky, Narue, DjFlaco, EvaRaine, and Araya had decided that they would try to forge the longed truce with the A.N.I. The others remained behind because, on one hand, there wasn't enough space, and on the other... they still needed to digest the idea of fighting alongside their mortal enemies, given that everything went well.

"We'll have to let Sora do the talking," Araya said.

"Me? Why me?" Sora stuttered.

"Dude, you're the one who knows all about the Heartless and how to deal with them," DjFlaco answered. "You have to convince the A.N.I. to consider a treaty. When that happens, then it'll be our turn."

"Somehow, lately, I haven't liked being the guy who talks very much... At least we're not wearing the B.C.U. jumpsuits," the lad murmured mostly to himself.

"Speak for yourself, kid. They need to see representatives..." Eva said. "As long as they don't use us as target practice, we'll be fine."

"Don't worry, Sora. We're right behind you," Goofy assured, ever so positively.

"All right... I know you are, Goofy," Sora said, patting our friend's back. "Looks like you can land right there, Felicia."

"Yeah, I was thinking that..." she lowered the ship and turned off the engines. The crowd began to approach us with untrusting eyes. Yet right then, a group of people quickly parted the crowd and made their way toward our vessel. We were more than relieved when we saw who they were. "I see Leon! And Ukyo! Oh, thank God they're all right!"

"And there's no more sun. That's a relief, too," Adrian added.

We quickly left the Gummi ship, carefully and momentarily hiding the Wulfpack members behind us. Everyone had to be ready for the incoming blow. Little did we know, however, that our task was going to be a piece of cake. Mostly because our friends had already done most of the job...

"Hey, guys!" Donald quacked cheerfully. "Long time, no see!"

"I never thought I'd be so happy to hear that quacking!" Ukyo chuckled happily and rubbed Donald's head before turning to the pilots behind her. "Everyone! These are our friends. Sora here is the one we told you about: he's the Heartless' worst enemy."

"Wow... he's too young," murmured a very beautiful woman standing beside our friend.

"Yeah, but he's good at what he does, Maici," retorted Ukyo with a smile.

The pilot raised her hands and shook her head, saying: "It was just an observation. I don't doubt his skills."

"Ah, it's been such a long time!" Adrian greeted cheerfully. Of course, his goal was to... oh, why waste my breath: you already know it. "I've felt so bored without you! Well, not that much, but you're the crème de la crème of my—"

"Adrian – horrible timing – please, stop," Felicia practically begged, seeing how Baiken was seconds away from exploding. Now that would be a pretty lousy way to start negotiating.

"Sorry, sorry. I got carried away. It's just that I'm so happy to see them," the vampire said with that smirk of his, causing Jam to silently chuckle and making Baiken even angrier.

However, I couldn't help but to feel worried about our friends...

"Guys, were are Ryu, Will, Akane, and the others?" I ventured to ask, somewhat shyly, I have to say, for I didn't know if the A.N.I. knew who they were...

"They're perfectly all right. They'll be here any minute," Ranma replied with a happy tone. I take it he really couldn't wait to see Akane...

"That's great news..." I sighed with relief. "Anyway, we've come in peace."

"We are a race of superior beings!" Adrian unavoidably added. Heck, even I was beginning to tire of him. I turned to him and frowned, urging him to shut up with my glance. "You started it!" he nonetheless exclaimed.

"Um, try not to pay attention to him when he's goofing around like that," Ukyo told the pilots behind her, who looked at Adrian like the crazy being he was. "He's actually—"

"A fucking moron who would do best to shut his hole if he doesn't want to lose his fucking tongue," Baiken interrupted, causing Adrian's grin to grow wider as he contained his insane laughter. I hoped they'd cool down, or things might go from ugly to nearly impossible. "But enough of that. I take it you guys came here to negotiate a truce with the A.N.I.?"

"Yeah, that's it," Sora quickly answered and stepped forth.

"Then speak to Maici, lad," Octavius said. "Thanks to her, you will find that your mission here will be simpler than it appears."

"Huh...?" we all uttered.

Before we could ponder on Octavius's words, the rest of our friends showed up. They were all safe and sound and were happy and relieved to see us, just as much as we were to see them.

"Brother!" Siegfried cried and raced to Wilheim, giving him a quick hug. Ukyo did the same... perhaps they hadn't been given the chance to do so. Akane and Ranma also embraced happily. It was nice to see them take a break from their incessant fighting. As for me, I approached Ryu and we gently punched each other's fist.

"It's nice to see you're okay, Ryu," I said.

"We were worried about you too, Ken," he replied.

And then, we all noticed Jazzy and Gallager.

"Guys! You're all right!" Narue exclaimed, causing all the A.N.I. to notice Wulfpack's presence. She froze upon realizing what she had done. Her face became pale and she stepped back. After nearly a minute, all she managed to utter was a nearly inaudible "Hi".

"W-we can explain why we were h-hiding..." Tricky stammered.

"They're with us," Sora quickly said. "We all came because of the truce."

"In that case, I'm very happy to say this, guys: welcome to Arlington," Maici said with a smile. That really confused us... but in a good way.

_(Change of scene)_

Tactical Aggression took us to their headquarters. Every pilot from every other brigade had also returned to their command center and had called their members back home to await further instructions.

Our hosts had been named provisional leaders, given the fact that it was they who had convinced most of the nation to accede to a truce. Nevertheless, Maici and her friends seemed quite reluctant to accept this responsibility. However, the woman agreed to lead the nation, seeing how their 'legitimate' leader was being such a douche and refused to even mention the word 'peace'.

They had been very good to us and had already filled us in on what had happened.

"So you guys overthrew Jester... I'm impressed," DjFlaco said.

"Well, people were tired of him and most of them are in for the truce," Maici answered.

"Your timing couldn't have been better," Ziggy added. "When you arrived with a peace offering, many more people agreed to a cease-fire. Now all that's missing is for you to convince your people, which shouldn't be hard, I think."

"Our brigade or our nation?" Araya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't know," Jazzy said. "I haven't told them anything regarding this. I don't know how they'll react."

"Yeah... they sort of know," Tricky commented, scratching the back of his head.

"Most of them didn't take it well," Felicia said. "But I'm sure you can get some sense into their heads, Jazzy. When they see that you're alive and once they know that this was all Tactical Aggression's doing, they'll probably think things over."

"Let's hope you're right..."

"As for the nation, it'll be a bit harder," Adrian said. "See, we went to Milky and told him about our plan. He very politely told us we were crazy."

"I wouldn't say politely," Siegfried grumbled.

"Ah, right. I forgot: he's a douche."

"Hmm... Things could be a bit tougher..." Maici pondered. "Nevertheless, I have faith. Seeing as how our nations are so similar, then perhaps the pilots will want a truce, despite what Milky says."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Baiken intervened. "For us it turned out all right, because the 'leader' was a fucking megalomaniac moron, but it's possible the B.C.U. might have a slightly more charming son of an ass with more people supporting him."

I could see that Wilheim was truly struggling not to chuckle because of Baiken's foul language. I couldn't help but to smile. Unfortunately, Baiken noticed me and instinctively turned to Will. The lad's smirk vanished and he turned a bit pale, yet he quickly spoke his way out of trouble.

"I can see your point, but I am actually a bit more worried about other B.C.U. Besides, I have barely known Milky and I can say that, while he is not the magnificent bastard Jester is, he is not all peaches and cream. Not many support his leadership, so he will most likely be a neutral piece for solving this conflict," he said.

"Don't make a fool out of me," Baiken growled, nonetheless. "You were about to burst out in laughter like an asshole again."

"Yes, I admit that I have to correct that behavior, and I apologize for my childish stupidity, if you will... Nevertheless, I pay attention to your words and I am doing my best to contribute to your idea."

Amazingly, it was Baiken who chuckled this time. I figured what sort of reputation she had amongst Tactical Aggression: everyone was shocked to see her laugh. Heck, even the ones who knew her better were a bit surprised, too.

"Oh, Will, you are an idiot." It was clear that she had not meant the insult and the lad smiled again. "Okay: so what's that which worries you?"

"Why was he laughing?" Eva ventured to ask.

"Because he thinks it's funny when I start cursing," Baiken replied. "He finds it funny that I speak like – what were your exact words, Wilheim? – a pirate, I think. Anyway, kids will always be kids, even if they are freaking seventy years old," she concluded, turning back to Wilheim with a smirk, who unavoidably let out a chuckle.

I saw that Adrian was about to say something. I was forced to punch him in the arm before he could speak. He grunted and let out a single chuckle and then he hit me back. The pain was pretty tolerable, compared to what might've happened if he would've spoken.

"Come on, Will," Felicia said and smiled as well. "Well, I think I know who you're talking about. You speak of MasterMenace, right?"

"Oh, the mini-leader..." Araya sighed unhappily.

"What about him?" Ryoga asked. "Is he like second in command, or something?"

"He wishes," groaned DjFlaco.

"I understand he's in the WarriorNation brigade, correct?" Maici guessed.

"That's right," Akane answered. "We've had our share of trouble with him in the past. For starters, he wouldn't stop bugging us, arguing that we were spies, and that we should be arrested. And that only happened when we arrived."

"I'm sorry to say that, during a battle we had against the A.N.I. in Blackburn Site, he mercilessly killed an enemy pilot Will and I had rescued and were planning on turning in..." Ryu confessed. "Now I see that the result wouldn't have been that different, but we didn't know."

"It's all right; there's no need to explain," Ziggy said.

"Whatever the case, a lot of people support him," I added. "I think he lost some followers after that incident. Will also helped with what he told him, but nevertheless, he's a threat."

"Well, I say we send the B.C.U. a message – you guys should do it together – and see what they decide," Jam suggested, glancing at JazzyJet and Maici.

"That will probably be best," Jazzy agreed. "In either case, I'll send a message to the Wulfpack back in Bygeniou. With MasterMenace's paranoia on the loose, it'll probably be best if they all come to Arlington."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Jazzy," Araya said.

"How come?"

"Well, think about it," Adrian added. "You're about to send Bygeniou a message asking for a truce along with Maici. If the brigade rushes out of the city and comes here, everyone's going to think that you're all traitors and that the video is a trap or something. The best thing to do is for our guys to stay there and deal with MasterMenace and the rest of the skeptics as best as they can."

"At last your intelligence dims the glow of your stupidity, bloodsucker," Octavius said. Adrian let him get away with it this time: he only mimicked Octavius in silence, which was a very calm thing to do, by his standards. "Your men must stay there so you will not lose credibility."

"My thoughts exactly," Araya said.

"Yeah, when you put it that way..." Jazzy unhappily pondered. "But I don't know how they'll be able to handle the situation. Most of the ones that are here are the older, more mature members..."

"Longtom stayed behind: Suicidal is also with them..." Araya said. "It's true: not all of our companions will share the enthusiasm of a truce. But I'm sure the more mature ones, like you say, will understand and will be able to talk the younger ones into it."

"And they'll be able to handle the pressure from the other brigades, too," DjFlaco said. "Listen, if you're really that worried about them, let me go back to Bygeniou. I'll see what I can do."

"If you go, I'm going with you, too," EvaRaine hastily commented. "I won't let you face this alone."

"Yeah..." Jazzy sighed. "Yeah, go back, DJ. I can't stop worrying about them."

"It's cool, Jazzy."

"Well, if that's what's going to happen, then let's start thinking about that message," Tek proposed.

_(Change of scene)_

We had to wait for an entire day for the B.C.U. to send their reply. I was actually beginning to worry that they would send us back DjFlaco and Eva's heads as an answer to our proposal. Thankfully, we weren't in ancient Rome...

Tactical Aggression had been very kind o us. They fed us and gave us a place to rest. For one part, it was nice to know that our enemies were rational human beings and that they had been so all along. On the other hand, it wasn't so great... we had been fighting against them and that didn't make us feel very good. More specifically, I speak about Felicia and Ukyo, who had been the only ones among us who had actually managed to kill an enemy pilot. Nothing that a few drinks wouldn't fix, according to Jam, Maici, and Baiken (a tale that embarrassed Ukyo quite a bit and amused Will even more).

They also told us about their encounter with Kyuxo, which was most discouraging. We all immediately thought about what the Nobody we had encountered in the Underworlds had said to Sora. The plot was thickening and I really don't like it when things take such turns.

Whatever the case, we knew that we were about to go into the fray and decided not to trouble ourselves with such issues for the moment. Instead, we tried hard to talk about any other subject. For instance, Ryu found out something very curious...

It turned out that he, Morrigan, Shiryu, and I had already faced Baiken before. We had fought against her shadow during the battle of the Twelve Houses, back in the Sanctuary of Athena. While the Dragon's saint and I had been busy trying to defeat Libra's dark saint, Ryu and the succubus had struggled to kill Baiken's Heartless. It had been a very hard fight... I remember that the fiend killed Morrigan and only Tish managed to bring her back to life. Ryu barely defeated her in the end... Because he had been the one who had fought her the most, I think, he realized that our bitter companion was the origin of the shadow we had faced. When he said this, our companions seemed quite surprised. I know I was... But Baiken just limited herself to say: "Interesting", gave a puff on her pipe and turned away. Well, at least she was honest. And, of course, I had to stop Adrian from making any sort of remark. I could see in his smile that he was desperate to say something. Another punch in the arm and his physical retaliation was all that happened, fortunately. I don't know why he loves to piss that woman off...

Well, that's all unimportant stuff. That's pretty much what happened while we waited for the B.C.U.'s answer. And just when we were beginning to despair, the city's speakers announced that a small fleet of ships was approaching – all of them had a white cloth on the side of their windshields.

"White means peaceful, right?" Sora said, unable to keep his excitement to himself. Heck, every one of us was thrilled to see that color.

"White's peaceful," I answered, with a smile.

"You're right it's peaceful!" the lad chuckled and we gave each other a high-five. "At last, we're going to kick some Heartless butt!"

Slowly, the ships descended. One by one, the B.C.U. pilots began to come out of their vessels, raising their hands into the air, so the A.N.I. could see that they were not armed. Arlington's inhabitants reacted by lowering their guns and approaching them slowly and serenely. The Wulfpack got together and followed DjFlaco, who quickly made his way toward Jazzy and Maici.

"B.C.U. is now officially ready to start negotiating a truce," DJ proudly announced.

"That's great news!" Maici said with utter relief. For a moment, I thought she was about to break into tears, but she kept her cool and she did nothing more than to pause briefly before speaking again. "I'm so glad to hear this... Well, anyway, I suppose I'm going to be A.N.I.'s spokesperson. What about you, guys?"

"I guess it's Milky, assuming he came," Jazzy said.

"Actually, I think it's going to have to be you, Jazzy," Apocalypse muttered. "And you better say something to the rest of the pilots quick, because none of them feel too comfortable... Myself included."

"Not to throw aside your hospitality..." Amouth added, turning to Maici. "But I really don't feel like staying here for too long. I get kind of nervous."

"I second that," Kobe sighed. "Anyway, say something, Jazzy..."

"Wow, wait a minute... what happened to Milky?" Jazzy questioned.

"The idiot refused to give into the truce, or what?" Siegfried guessed.

"No, he accepted, actually," Yukunism answered.

"...Then where is he?"

"We'll explain after Jazzy calms everyone down," Amouth said.

"The A.N.I. aren't going to do anything. There's no reason to be afraid, guys," Jazzy assured.

"They've been very nice to us: I suggest you drop the paranoia," Araya intervened.

"Besides, if I'm going to be B.C.U.'s spokesperson (which I really don't want to), then we're as good as done with the truce. Maici and I want the same stuff, so there's really not a lot to say."

"Maybe with the A.N.I., but you really need to start calming people down," Longtom said. "There's a lot of tension brewing within some brigades. Try to get them to listen to reason..."

"Well, no one likes there to be any tension..." Jazzy sighed. "I'll see what I can do."

"I'll help you in whatever way I can," Maici said. "A lot of our people are still scared, too."

"Okay. Meanwhile, I suggest you guys start tuning up your ships. We're going to need all the weaponry we can get for the upcoming battle against the Heartless."

"Okay, I suppose we can do that," Longtom sighed.

_(Change of scene)_

While Jazzy and Maici addressed their troops, doing their best to convince them that a cease-fire had already been established, we began to make plans for the fight.

Before that, however, our Wulfpack companions briefly explained to us why Milky had refused to come to Arlington.

"When I came to him and told him that the A.N.I. had actually agreed to a truce, he refused to believe me, at first," DjFlaco said. "When I showed him your message, his face changed. There were some other guys from Bygeniou Air Force around and they didn't seem too convinced. Milky, however, said that, although he didn't like our brigade very much, he didn't think we were traitors. Most of his men tried to talk him into dismissing the message as a trick come from spies, but he chose to listen to us instead." He paused a bit before going on. I guess he was still somewhat shocked to know that the truce was going to happen and with Milky's consent.

Now, I know I've said this repeatedly... that the guys couldn't believe that peace was near. But hey, after so many years of incessant fighting, wouldn't you be relieved as heck to know that it would all soon end?

"He quit his position as leader," DJ announced, much to our surprise. "He said that he realized that he had done a poor job at keeping the nation together and that he refused to carry on with a task which he couldn't perform properly. His men got really angry at him, yet he didn't pay attention to them. Ignoring their complaints, he declared that we should lead the nation into battle against the Heartless, for we were the only ones that chose to believe in peace in a time of hatred and war."

"Wow... I never would've thought that Milky would be capable of doing something like that," Araya declared. "But, is he still fighting alongside us? Or did he quit being B.C.U.'s leader and war altogether?"

"He transmitted a final message to the nation, telling the people to follow us and to halt our fire against the A.N.I. But he won't fight, and it's unlikely that anyone from Bygeniou Air Force will help us," Amouth informed

"Very few pilots have agreed to come, regarding BAF," Kobe added. "It would've been nice to have Milky either way, though."

"I guess... but we'll have to manage without him," Jazzy sighed. "At least he made a right call. Although I'm not too thrilled about leading the B.C.U. It's too much responsibility."

"We'll just have to do our best, Jazzy," Tricky said with a smile, patting Jazzy on the back.

"Okay, then; let's start planning this attack," Gallager intervened eagerly.

Atermel nodded and hastily informed:

"Scouts have reported seeing the Heartless in Starlite Valley and Redline Beach. We have to stop their advance."

"We're facing the same problems," Ziggy said. "They've invaded Herremeze Relic Site and Plain of Doleful Melody. The way I see it, our best bet is to attack them from both fronts."

"Well, we obviously know our territory better, so it's best we start on opposite sides, as if it were going to be another battle," Eva said. "Except, of course, we won't shoot at each other."

"I must be sincere," Wilheim intervened. "Now that I am by Ukyo's side again, I do not wish to leave her. I would like to remain with the A.N.I. for a while, if that is all right with you, of course."

"No problem here, Wilheim," Dan replied.

"We can always use more hotness on this side," Jam added, with an impish smile. We all knew she didn't do it to piss Ukyo anymore... she had become more like Camille, in that sense. Boy, I wondered what would happen when those two met... "Speaking about that, why don't you bring your little brother with you?"

"Me? Really?" Siegfried stuttered.

"What is wrong, Siegfried? This is the first time I see you getting caught with your guard down," Wilheim chuckled.

"You guys are too inexperienced," I cockily said. "If you want to learn how to get the ladies, you should go to yours truly."

"You're disgustingly rich: that doesn't count," Adrian interfered.

"How about we focus on the attack again?" Felicia shyly suggested before I could reply to that crazy vampire. She discretely pointed at Baiken, who was once again, losing her patience.

"Okay..." the aforementioned woman said, with a sigh, doing her best to calm down. "So, you're coming with us, Will?"

"Yes, I would very much like to do so," replied the lad.

"What ship do you pilot?"

"An A-gear. You see, it was—"

"Excellent. I'm riding with you from now on," she calmly interrupted.

Well, if someone wanted to intervene, it would clearly have to be Ryu, since he had been Will's copilot in the past.

"Excuse me, Baiken, but I've been alongside Wilheim since he picked up the tank..." my pal said.

"You could very well fly a ship yourself. Me, on the other hand..." Baiken replied.

"Yeah, I know, and I understand what you're saying – but I don't want to stay grounded... See, I don't know anything about flying a gear, so a copilot is all I can aspire to."

"Be Octavius's copilot, then. He'll go with the B.C.U."

"Am I now?" Octavius dryly (like always) intervened. "I did not know that I wished for that. It seems incomprehensible to me that you know my desires better than me."

"Point A: if Wilheim's coming to A.N.I., someone from here needs to go over to B.C.U. so their numbers won't suffer. Point B: I may not have been here for long, but I can still give him some advice. And most importantly, point C: I don't like you and you don't like me, whereas I get along with Will."

"Ouch... I guess you're going to have to be Octavius's copilot, Ryu," I whispered to my friend.

"She's got good points..." Ryu agreed and remained quiet.

"Point C is invalid! No one likes Octavius!" Adrian exclaimed all of a sudden. Seriously, I just take my eyes off him for a moment, and the mayhem begins.

However, Baiken didn't threaten the vampire right away. Since the joke hadn't been directed towards her, but rather against her antagonist, she stared at Octavius without blinking and actually had to force herself not to smile. We all saw it: we all saw how she pressed her lips together in a desperate attempt to contain a grin, while Octavius, naturally, wasn't the least pleased to see this (mostly because Baiken had the nerve to stare at him while mocking him, I think). When she knew it would be impossible for her to keep a straight face, she quickly turned to Adrian and said:

"You better shut up, fucking bat, or I'll cut you where it don't grow back." And, as you might've guessed, the vampire almost rolled on the floor laughing like mad. She didn't even sound that menacing at all. In the end, we all had to struggle against our own chuckles and Felicia and I had to slap Adrian so he would quit making jokes that would eventually make everyone uncomfortable.

"I suppose I do not have an objection as to you being my copilot..." Will shyly murmured.

"Well, if Will's staying, any chance I could stay, too?" Siegfried hastily asked.

"You got my vote on that," Jam said in a flirty fashion.

"It would be very nice: that way I can watch over you," Wilheim added.

"Not doing it for you, brother," Siegfried laughed, while mischievously eyeing Jam. I then noticed that Sora looked at him with a bit of jealousy... I did my best not to grin when I saw this.

"It's okay, Siegfried. You can stay here if you want. We've got plenty of people, so you don't have to worry," Jazzy said.

"Actually, Jazzy, I was wondering if Ranma could accompany us in your M-gear... if neither of you mind, that is," Akane said shyly.

"If Jazzy doesn't have a problem, I'll gladly go, Akane," Ranma muttered with tenderness. I bet Akane was enjoying herself much: that boy is seldom effusive.

"The more in the sexy gear the merrier, like I always say," Jazzy chuckled.

"I say the same, regarding Siegfried joining us: the more helpers the merrier, mate," Siachen said.

"Then it's settled," Maici announced. "We will clear our territory from Heartless and you will clear yours. We will meet in Bark and there we'll battle that huge Heartless together." She turned to Sora and asked: "We just have to worry about shooting them, right? You'll take care of the rest, won't you?"

"Sure. Once we get rid of them, I'll find the keyhole and I'll get rid of them for good," the boy assured.

"Well, in that case, let's get ready. I just got news that Kill on sight will be flying with us... try to be careful," she warned.

"I don't trust that WhiteHawkOne," Leon muttered unhappily. "I'm afraid he'll start causing trouble."

"As long as we keep an eye – or a leash, like he would say – on him, I don't expect there will be a lot of trouble," Ziggy said.

"Speaking about that, we should also be on the lookout for troublemakers," Amouth suggested. "MasterMenace is a big concern..."

"Let's just hope that everything goes according to plan," Jazzy said, "In the mean time, let's get ready to go back to Bygeniou. We have to scout all of our territory and make sure that the Heartless haven't invaded any more areas."

"Well, then let's get going," I said, tired of so much talking, and headed for the exit, but not without first approaching Will and whispering in his ear: "Don't piss off your sensei."

"A difficult task, but I will do my best," he murmured back with a chuckle.

_Narrator: Wilheim_

My new copilot was not too pleased that I had asked her not to smoke inside the tank. However, she did not light her pipe at all, and I think she appreciated my presence more than that of her former companion.

As we left the city and headed to unknown territory (to me, that is), I noticed that the fellows at Tactical Aggression were much more serious folk than my Wulfpack comrades. Despite Baiken's reduced tolerance to jokes, I would have very much appreciated some funny stories. Luckily I still had my companion's foul language; that, coupled with Jam's insinuations on my brother would make the journey a bit more pleasant, I reckoned. And, of course, I had Ukyo constantly flying by my side, twirling and circling me playfully. We would certainly make a good team, looking out for one another.

Before arriving to the Valley of Doleful Melody, we scouted the rest of the A.N.I.'s terrain. Luckily, there did not seem to be any signs of the Heartless invasion anywhere. At that moment, we were about to reach the end of a most long cave; its exit was the entrance to the valley.

Fortunately Baiken had not behaved negatively.

"You fly infinitely better than that idiot, Octavius," she pointed out. "I'm very relieved to be away from him."

"Well, you should take into account that Octavius has always been one of our designated pilots when it comes to flying Gummi ships," I observed. "Moreover, we have only flown through lands that have not been invaded by the Heartless. This will stop being a pleasure cruise when we begin fighting."

"Oh, I'm aware of that. I actually expect that you'll make me dizzy once we're on the fray. I'm just saying that you seem to know your way around this ship more than the were-bear."

"I hope you are right, to some extent. At least I can protect Ukyo and my brother while I am here, and looking out for their safety and that of my other friends will no doubt make me a fiercer warrior."

"I don't know about Siegfried, but Ukyo can take care of herself just fine, Willie," Baiken said. "If you both lookout for each other, we'll be just fine... unless you turn out to be a complete screw up."

"I hope I do not disappoint you," I chuckled nervously. "Well, I suppose Jam will also take care of Siegfried."

"Marmalade Jam? Don't get your hopes up, kid." I turned to her briefly and she went on. "She's got spirit, but she's somewhat of a lousy pilot."

"That's quite a shame..." I sighed. "Siegfried is not that skilled, either."

"Keep your eyes peeled, then."

We reached the cave's exit and stopped. No one dared to go inside until Maici gave the order.

"Anyone think the Heartless will be waiting for us on the other side?" Twist asked.

"That's probably what they're doing right now," Mosfet answered. "We should send in a scout to check out what's happening on Dole."

"No," Maici hastily said. "They fly ships which are very similar to ours. If we send in a B-gear while camouflaging, it's very likely that they'll spot it anyway, and kill the pilot. We have to stick together and play things safe."

"Hmm... Then do you suggest we do it the Baiken way?" Ziggy guessed.

"I suppose that probably is a good idea," the woman pondered.

"What do you mean, 'the Baiken way'?" Siegfried inquired while I turned to my copilot with a questioning glance. "I mean, kicking their asses is obviously a must, but, is there more to it?"

"Of course there's more to it, dummy," Ukyo chuckled. "It's actually a very good strategy she came up with."

"Really? Enlighten us, please..."

Maici and the others did not explain us the full strategy. They only told us what we had to do. Luckily for me, Baiken had the decency to tell me everything about it. Indeed it was a nice plan that would hopefully allow us to take the valley without suffering any casualties.

"Baby, make sure you give me a holler if you run out of energy to keep your barrier up, okay?" my darling told me through a private channel.

"I will, dearest. For your part, call for me if you need my aid and I will go swiftly to your side," I answered lovingly.

"Well, since you're a tank, 'swiftly' might not be that fast," she giggled. "Yet I get your point. Don't worry about me, baby. I'm a decent fighter."

"You just concentrate on not getting us killed for the time being, Don Juan," Baiken said, patting me on the shoulder, urging me with that gesture to put an end to my conversation with my darling. I suppose she did not want to listen to more of our romantic talk for the time being. "She's okay, trust me."

"Actually, Don Juan was a scoundrel whose only interest was to possess women and kill men. I do not think it is such a good compliment," I retorted, in an attempt to tease her playfully.

"He found redemption, remember? Besides, genius, I called you that because of the way in which you— Stop pulling my leg, jackass, and best keep your eyes on our surroundings! Maici will give the order any minute." Despite her reply, I noticed she had smiled.

"Be ready, guys..." Maici said. "On the count of three..."

The moment our leader gave the order, we left the cave and instantly entered the valley. I suppose that the cave's exit had some sort of warp system integrated, which led us to that place. We hastily made our way to the ground and turned on our barriers without even confirming that there were Heartless waiting for on the other side. There were no formations immediately behind the warp. Most of the Heartless were scattered through Dole. Noticing this, I quickly turned off my barrier.

"Everyone in Crystal Cave, be aware that there are no Heartless at the gate," I said through my communicator. "Save your ships' energy for later; B-gears, reframe from utilizing your camouflage devices."

"Wow, look at him talk," Djneff laughed. "Will: you are allowed to use normal language." Everyone chuckled at the remark. I could only remain quiet and blush shyly.

The rest of the A.N.I. came through the warp moments later and assembled at the gate's entrance.

"They aren't too organized, it seems," Maici said, but she was not about to underestimate our enemy. "Break up into full formations. Take at the very least one M-gear with you. I want the faster, more skilled I-gears to scout every last corner in Dole and find out the places where the Heartless might be hiding, please."

"I don't want to fight with the B.C.U. They're all crap," WhiteHawkOne declared, ever so untimely.

"I don't care: everyone, please look out. Don't get away from your formations," the leader said, calmly dismissing that inopportune remark. "A-gears, don't forget to snare the faster fliers. Let's go, guys!"

Without wasting a second, we charged against the Heartless without mercy. Sakura and Ryoga, Jam, Siegfried, Leon, Ukyo, and I flew alongside Maici and Twist in the same formation. We remained close to one another and the other formations did the same, as per Maici's orders. I made my way to the ground and landed as fast as I could.

"Holy shit," Baiken muttered. "That's a bit faster than what I'm used to."

"Forgive me, but I must be quick," I replied and started to shoot at the Heartless ceaselessly.

"As long as you don't get us stupidly killed by diving into the ground, I don't have a problem. Just shoot the damn sons of bitches: I'll let you know if we got unexpected company."

"Good."

My Ukyo circled me like a hawk waiting for its prey to foolishly come near. Every Heartless that dared fly close to me was quickly demolished by her devastating bombs. Ryoga and Sakura remained stationary and shot their targets with little difficulty: a first for them, according to their words. Leon and Twist – the most skilled I-gears within our formation – took on the task of scouting, while Jam and Siegfried remained close to each other and shot down our enemies fairly quickly. They constantly helped each other... things were looking very bright for my brother. As for Maici, she kept a lookout on the more dangerous Heartless and dived against them as soon as she spotted them. Moreover, during all that time, she did not let any of us lose contact with our formation mates, our brigade mates, and the entire nation.

I was half expecting Baiken to moan and whine and curse all the time, but she actually turned out to be quite helpful. She was even shrewder than Ryu, although not as patient, I should say. Even so, she never got angry at me. Just a little... nervous because of the many Heartless that relentlessly threatened to obliterate us. If it had not been for Ukyo, I reckon she would have exasperated me and additionally would have probably slammed my head against the tank's windshield.

Instead of insults I was actually... flattered. As my friends would say, 'go figure'.

"You sure do know how to manage the turret, Willie," she said. "Now I know we won't accidentally die... like with that stupid Octavius." But of course someone had to be insulted.

"I suppose videogames have helped to make me a better pilot than him," I confessed.

"Those things will rot your fu—damn brain, boy," she hastily corrected, aware that the last thing we needed was me laughing. "Anyway... three ships coming in on the left."

It did not take us longer than half an hour to free Dole from the darkness of our enemy. It was time to move on to Herremeze Relic Site. Thing seemed to be going well, for we had also received news that our friends at B.C.U. had managed to defeat the Heartless plaguing Starlite Valley with absolutely no casualties.

However, we all knew that the real challenge lay on Bark. It would be there where we would truly wage a deadly battle.

"Great job, everyone," Maici said. "Relic is next. Same strategy as before. Tanks go in first, followed by speedy I-gears... the Baiken way."

"I just want you all to know that if any B.C.U. starts doing something they shouldn't, I'm going to get revenge on them," WhiteHawkOne blatantly threatened.

"Hey, White-Twat-One, do yourself a favor and eat shit," Baiken hastened to say through our communicator. "Better for it to go in than out of your fucking mouth." Though I did not mean to, I chuckled because of her retort.

"No more drama. Not today," Ziggy intervened, before anyone else could carry on with the verbal abuse.

"I swear he's the most annoying, stupid... thing I've ever met," Ukyo grumbled through a private channel.

"As long as he does not try to harm any of our allies, I will be able to stomach him," I told her.

"Bah, don't worry, kids," Baiken confidently said. "He's a useless jerk. He barks a lot, but he can't bite."

We paid no more attention to WhiteHawkOne as we made our way to the next territory. Like before, we got through the gate without encountering a single monster. However, something was different this time. There were absolutely no Heartless in Herremeze Relic Site. The I-gear scouts quickly performed reconnaissance duty and found no enemies hiding nearby.

"I thought we would find a more solid defense here," Ziggy mused. "I guess I was mistaken."

"I thought so too," I added. "The Heartless are not acting like they usually do."

"Explain yourself, brother," Siegfried said.

"Heartless do not flee in the face of danger. They attack relentlessly, for they only know hatred. In fact, I am surprised that we did not find more of them in Dole..."

"These Heartless must be smarter, then," Ukyo said. "We have to be extra-careful. I don't want to find myself in a situation similar to that of Gaia."

"By God, I will die before I see that happen," I murmured, remembering with dread the day that Ukyo had been taking from me.

"They must be all grouped up in Bark, waiting for us..." Jam sighed.

"Well, Marmalade Jam, if I had a big-ass monster that can tear anything apart in that place, I also wouldn't like to leave that area," Baiken said.

"But that's the problem: the Heartless act on instinct, not on reason," Leon refuted. "I really do hope we're not facing another Digaia..."

"Maybe they really are under someone else's influence, and I could take a guess as to who that is..." Baiken mused. She leaned toward me and whispered in my ear: "Keep a very close eye on Ukyo, just in case."

"...I will," I replied as a chill ran down my back.

"Wait a minute... if the Heartless are fighting differently than what you're used to, doesn't that screw up our strategy?" Honrar asked.

"So far, the only strategy we've thought about is to remain together and push the Heartless back as a group, both B.C.U. and A.N.I.," Siegfried retorted. "Don't be alarmed... We will have to think about something else when that monster crashes into the party, though."

"We've lost enough time talking about this: the guys from B.C.U. might already be in Bark and they probably need our help," Maici guessed. "Let's get a move on, guys. Stay together, like Siegfried said, and don't be overconfident. Though we have some guard bots taking care of Den A, there's a chance our enemies might be waiting for us."

"No pity, no overconfidence," Twist muttered.

As we had half-expected, Den A was empty by the look of things. We paid little attention to what the passage to the barren land had to offer and went through the final warp...

No one was waiting for us at the gate. There did not seem to be a single shadow in sight. We were beginning to think that our friends in B.C.U. had been held up in their territory, but a timely transmission soon made us realize that this was not the case.

"A.N.I. people, can you hear me?" Jazzy asked. His voice sounded a bit distorted, yet he appeared to be calm.

"We're all here, Jazzy and all in one piece. What about you?" Maici quickly replied.

"We're all accounted for, too. We just made it through Den B."

"We also just got here..." She paused as we all noticed an eerie cloud in Bark's center. We stared at it suspiciously, remaining completely still within our vessels for a few seconds. Once we realized nothing would happen yet, our leader spoke again. "Let's meet on the eastern mountains. We have to stick together if we're going to approach that cloud."

"Agreed."

"Stay by my side, baby..." Ukyo whispered on my private channel.

"Do not worry, beloved. I will not any harm fall upon you," I assured.

"I swear you're going to make me puke," my copilot grumbled. "Stop the cheesy talk for once in your life."

"But I—"

"I know you love her: it's pretty damn clear to me and to everyone in the freaking planet. Seriously: concentrate on fighting and demonstrate your love through taking care of her. But please, stop going all cute and blah, blah, blah; because I've had enough of that for one day."

"I cannot shut out the desire for her in my—" Yet as I turned to see her, I noticed in her eye that she was not in the mood for arguing. "...Never mind."

We met with our friends on the mountains. It was nice to see additional fighters... Now we were roughly five-hundred warriors.

"So far we haven't seen any Heartless, except the ones we beat on Starlite Valley," Jazzy informed.

"We understand... although that cloud looks over there doesn't look friendly," Maici muttered.

We looked again and as if the smokes had heard us, they slowly receded and unveiled the horrifying sight that lay behind its curtains. The Heartless were there, flying about the center of Bark like a swarm of bees. What alarmed us was that they were just as numerous as a colony of insects and would no doubt be just as aggressive the moment they realized we were near. The cloud of dust had only move to let us gawp in horror at this new haze... for the swarm of Heartless outnumbered us by far too many. Indeed, these beings were not very good flyers; yet my friends and I were skilled rookies, at the most. I certainly would have felt a lot more confident if I had fought on foot, wielding Renamark and hacking at my foes with all my might. However, at that moment my magical blade would not aid me. My turret, my metal armor, and my wits were my only weapon.

"My God..." Siachen muttered with fright.

"Guys... wouldn't it be easier if we retreated and waited for them on the other side of the Dens?" Yukunism suggested. "It's open field here: numbers will turn the tide of the battle."

"The more we wait to finish off the Heartless, the stronger they'll become," Sora retorted. "No blockade will be able to hold them off then. We have to take them out now."

"Besides, chances are the warps are disabled by now," Ziggy observed.

"We can turn them back on, like last time," one of the younger pilots suggested.

"They will kill more than half our forces while we try to fend them off," Mosfet answered. "And if we split, they'll outnumber us further. If we remain together, one of our cities will be unprotected."

"Your city our Bygeniou: there is no 'ours'," MasterMenace intervened. I was not the least surprised to hear something of the sort from his foul mouth.

"Wait a minute – that wasn't White-Maggot-One?" my copilot said without wasting a second. "Aw, you must be his brother. I guess that stupidity runs in the family."

"I'm not a B.C.U. piece of trash, fucking crippled!" WhiteHawkOne whined.

"How dare you speak to me that way, inferior A.N.I.??" the inopportune pilot demanded.

"Shit, it's even worse. It looks like your brother is an overbearing asshole, White-Prick-One," Baiken mocked; and before anyone else could interfere, she added: "If you two want to kill each other, I don't give a fucking damn – but leave the rest of us out of your bickering."

"Seriously, people: stop arguing!" Adrian yelled. This time there was not a trace of humor in his voice. I was actually a bit surprised to hear him angry. "I'm tired of hearing complains about the other nation. Get this through your skull, MasterMenace: there is no 'other' nation now – we're all together in this. Unless you want to get yourself and those around you killed, I suggest you start contemplating the meaning of the word 'teamwork'."

"If those around me are A.N.I., I don't care if they die," MasterMenace arrogantly announced.

"Right. Do whatever you want. But don't expect me to lift a finger to help you if you're in trouble."

"You mean he can actually switch his stupidity off?" Baiken whispered in my ear. Normally I would have chuckled (especially since she was sincerely trying to be funny), but I was far from being in the mood for laughs.

"MasterMenace: you will fight alongside every one of us. That's an order," Jazzy growled. It was clear that these people would not listen to diplomacy nor soft words.

"Enough of fighting between ourselves. We have to be past that," Maici said. "Let's focus on the Heartless. I can't see that huge monster..."

"Me neither," Ken said. "What about you, Felicia? You have the best eyes."

"Nothing. Nada. Zip," the were-cat replied.

"Surely it'll show up sooner or later. In the mean time, we have to decimate that army. By my calculations, we're outnumbered about one-hundred to one," Maici mused.

"Oh, that's just fucking great," Amouth grumbled.

"I guess you have already thought of something, huh, Maici?" Dan muttered.

"Yes: let's try to take away that advantage. Let's surround them with formations. Luckily for us, they're not too spread out."

"It's very dangerous, Maici..." DjFlaco mumbled. "Each formation will still be facing hundreds of Heartless at a time."

"It'll be less than if we take on them as a single team," Maici retorted. "Besides, being on different formations doesn't mean we won't look out for one another."

"Right; that's what you think..." WhiteHawkOne muttered.

"Okay: I'm going to start ignoring you, idiot, and I suggest you all do the same, guys," my darling said. "How do we make the forms? Balanced, as usual?"

"Yes: the strategy hasn't changed – stay close to your formations and we'll make it. Just remember to look out for those nearby," Maici clarified.

"Let's do it then. And keep an eye out for that huge monster," Jazzy said. No one said 'good luck' or 'God be with us'. At that moment, despite Maici's words, every formation felt alone and perhaps, even threatened by the one beside it...

The squadrons broke up and surrounded the swarm of Heartless. We closed in on the horde of foes and waited for the leaders to give the order. The beings kept on flying in circles as if they had not noticed us. For my part, though, I was sure that they only wanted us to unleash the first shot. They were toying with us... There was no turning back.

"A-gears..." Jazzy said in a low voice. I was expecting a countdown. But instead... "GIVE THEM HELL!!"

I was caught off guard by his battle yell. However, I hastily got a hold of my turret's controls and shot the ship closest to me. Our powerful shots destroyed our targets on the first attempt. This caused the Heartless to wake from their trance... the hive had been disturbed. The cloud of enemies grew thick and angry and they speeded against us, shooting thousands of missiles at us.

"B-gears, bomb them! Don't let them get near!!" Maici shouted.

The bombers quickly formed a wall and unleashed their bombs upon any Heartless that dared get near. Meanwhile, the I-gears and the M-gears shot at the enemies that were farthest away. This time, the fighters did not go after the Heartless that fled away from us. We had to remain together. Luckily for us, the shielding of our ships was hard enough to withstand the foes' blasts.

We had formed a solid perimeter and were effectively keeping the Heartless in check. Since their projectiles were not lethal, I reframed from using my barrier and relied on the ship's own shield and the M-gears' quick assistance. Rather than wasting energy on my special barrier, I employed it to snare any rogue Heartless ships that tried to escape the area we were targeting. We could not afford to get attacked from both ends. Right now we were the ones surrounding: if the tables turned, we would not stand a chance.

Suddenly, a formation that had not been with us during our previous skirmishes picked a spot alongside us and started to attack the Heartless. Despite this extra help, our A.N.I. companions did not seem too pleased with the arrival of these pilots.

"Where were you, Goons? Taking a nap?" Djneff grumbled.

"None of your business. Be grateful we're here to help," one of the fighters insolently answered.

"DE, I swear to God, that I'll—"

"Less yap-yap and more bang-bang!" Felicia opportunely interrupted.

The Heartless numbers somehow kept growing and growing. Every Heartless that fell was soon replaced by another that sprung out of the shadows in Bark. Though we had not lost a single pilot so far, we were facing another problem: we were running out of ammunition.

"I'm nearly out of missiles!" Ukyo announced in alarm.

"I will also be empty of bullets soon!" I added.

"Unless the reload station in this place is still working, we're going to be crushed!" Atermel yelled.

"Then let's hope it's still running, then," Maici muttered. "Ukyo, Wilheim – you guys go there first and see if the station still works. If so, let us know and we'll start to go there by turns."

"And if it's broke?" a pilot asked with fear in his voice.

"If it's broke, we'll have to fix the portal to one of our cities and flee. Then we'll have to go through the moon to reach the other town and protect it," Jazzy answered.

"Right now, we just need to check," Maici said. "Come on, guys, hurry up."

Ukyo and I quickly did as we were told and located the reload station in the blink of an eye. The structure seemed like it would crumble with just touching it. Smoke came out of the many cracks that it had. Truly, it was not a very encouraging sight. Nevertheless, we chose not to give up hope just yet.

"You go first, Wilheim," my beloved said. "Just place yourself on the landing spot and then let the machines do the rest."

"Try to hover, rather than landing entirely," Baiken added. "Looks like that piece of shit will fall by just blowing on it, so it's best to take it easy."

"Understood," I answered and placed my tank just a few inches above the ground.

Amazingly, the reload automatic system still functioned. The machines moved slowly and clumsily; yet they moved and that was quite relieving. I let out a loud sigh as I saw my ammunition count go up.

"Heads up, Wilheim, they're coming from behind!" Ukyo warned. I turned and saw that seven Heartless were aiming for us.

"Ukyo, Will, look out! A formation of those jerks escaped the center," Araya warned, if only a little too late.

"Really?? You think??" Baiken roared at the communicator. Tired of all the yelling and the aggression that we were experiencing internally, I just gave her a quick glance, urging her to stop complaining with my stare. Fortunately, she understood and granted me the favor. "Like it or not, it's time to use your bubble. Snare the fighters and let Ukyo beat the crap out of them: focus your fire on the tanks and the medics."

"Good idea," I said.

"I don't like using you as bait, but the Heartless seem to be going after you either way..." Ukyo murmured.

Indeed: since the enemies saw that I was the slower-moving target, they did not hesitate to throw themselves against me. Luckily I still had plenty of energy to keep my special barrier up. I opened fire against the slower ships as well and brought them down in a matter of seconds. Ukyo circled me and destroyed the fighters and bombers. They barely attacked her, which seemed very strange to me, since she was the grater menace. I suppose it was because I was easier to hit. Yet that did not mean that I took any damage.

In the end, they posed no threat whatsoever and were quickly eliminated by our cunning attacks.

"The platform still works!" I announced. "I have full ammunition!"

"My turn," Ukyo said as I put my tank aside and allowed her to reload. Very soon, there was a line of gears heading the platform. Those who had more capacity in their ships remained behind, doing their best to cover the positions that their companions had momentarily left empty.

"Don't these things ever die?!" cried Kobe, losing his serenity for a moment.

"Patience, Kobe! We'll finish them off eventually," Felicia assured. "We're doing great. We just have to keep shooting them down and they'll be defeated sooner or later. Believe me: I've gone through this before."

"But they just keep coming and coming!" the lad moaned.

"Don't despair. We can beat them if we just focus," Ryu added.

"I'm done," my darling announced as she got off the platform and flew next to me. "Who's next?"

"Dibs," Honrar said and landed on the platform.

Things had gone according as planned up to that moment. We still had to face the immense monster that had stormed Bark during our last encounter. No doubt he would not be an easy foe to defeat. I was a bit concerned about that fiend; for last time I had seen it, it had received multiple attacks and they had not even scratched its dark skin. I did my best to take the advice I had given my friends earlier when we were at the cell – worry about it when the time came.

But there was another enemy that we had to be wary about: the one that was the deadliest foe of them all... one that soon showed its hideous face when we were beginning to believe we had the upper hand on the battle.

A formation of Heartless escaped from the ring of gears that were mowing them down and moved steadily towards the ships that were still waiting to reload their weapons.

"I'm out of missiles," one pilot said. "Please, cover me."

Apparently, the warrior who had requested this had been an A.N.I. belonging to the Kill on sight brigade. He was surrounded by B.C.U. pilots... and as the Heartless approached the lad more and more, no one moved from their positions.

"Guys, please, answer me! I need help here!" But the B.C.U. remained silent and stationary.

"Isn't anybody going to help?" WhiteHawkOne practically demanded, even when he had the nerve to remain still as well.

"Get off your assess, people!!" Baiken roared. "Fuck it! If you want something done... Will, Ukyo; let's go back and lend that idiot a hand."

With a solemn nod, we turned our ships back and raced to the platform. However, we were too far away and had foolishly relied on our companions to help their former rivals. Things did not bode well.

"Help! They're on to me!!" the pilot cried. The Heartless had surrounded him and were unloading every missile and every bullet upon his gear. As tough as his ship's armor might have been, it was unable to withstand the onslaught of Heartless. It was not until it began to catch fire that WhiteHawkOne had the dignity to finally get out of line and help him a bit. However, it was too late and we had not managed to fly fast enough to aid the pilot that crashed into the ground and exploded.

"You B.C.U. bastards!!" WhiteHawkOne roared. "He asked you for help, and you just stood there like morons!"

"You said you wouldn't help any of us: we're simply returning the favor with your brigade," a B.C.U. warrior calmly replied. "Besides, it's not like you did much, either, prick."

"Oh, yeah?" WhiteHawkOne steadily flew his ship behind the pilot. Up until then, we had all thought that Baiken's description of the arrogant A.N.I. was correct: all talk and no action. But we had all forgotten something very important... to never underestimate the darkness in one person's heart. "Return this!!" He fired a volley of missiles against his victim and blew him up in the blink of an eye.

Ukyo, Baiken, and I were speechless. We had not expected such a thing. It was as if time froze for a second, allowing us to have a moment to realize what would inevitably happen next. After that instant was over, Ukyo and I silently flew as fast as we could to the line of pilots, hoping with all our hearts that we would be able to calm things down, while Baiken could only utter in a murmur: "You've got to be shitting me..."

"You son of a bitch!!" a pilot bellowed. "I'll have your head for that!"

"I knew it: the A.N.I. cannot be trusted!!" MasterMenace added. "Kill them all!!"

"No, stop it! Stay calm!" Sora yelled.

We all tried to talk sense into the berserk pilots. However, it was useless. Hatred, fear, and mistrust took over their hearts and once more both nations were at war. Only the Wulfpack, Tactical Aggression, and some other brigades, such as Pablosky's and Mosfet's groups did their best to concentrate their fire on the Heartless, rather than on their companions.

Ukyo and I had no choice but to retreat back to our formation, for we were quickly targeted by both B.C.U. and A.N.I. gears. I was forced to use all of my gear's energy in maintaining my anti-missile barrier, while my darling hastily camouflaged her ship.

The ring of ships keeping the Heartless in check inevitably broke up. The fiends escaped their confinement and started to mercilessly attack our pilots; many of them would not fire back, for they were busy hunting down fellow warriors.

According to my companions, WhiteHawkOne had behaved like an insufferable coward in the past, quickly fleeing the field of battle the moment he sensed his ship was in danger of being dented. I was not seeing this now. Something had possessed him and he no longer cared about the hundreds of missiles heading at him. He was filled with hatred and his loathing of the B.C.U. overcame his spinelessness. He shot opponents that would not escape, for their hearts were consumed by darkness as well.

Now each man had to look out for himself. Those of us that tried to stay out of the inner fight still had a hard time fending off the Heartless, not to mention that our former companions were also attacking us. And the radio was soon filled by threats, curses, cries of hatred, and agonizing yells...

Volleys of bombs rained upon us one after the other. The energy that I had administered so well was soon no more and I had nothing left but my tank's armor to protect Baiken and me from the missiles and gunfire.

"Wilheim, get out of there!" Ukyo cried upon seeing my tank receive so many attacks.

"You're going to get blown up, Will!!" Ken shouted. "Move it! And you too, Octavius!!" Indeed, the tanks were the Heartless' primary target, and with the aid of the rest of the gears, things were even more hazardous for us.

"Will, you better start making me dizzy," Baiken said.

"All right," I muttered.

"We'll cover you, brother," Siegfried said and he and my other friends quickly grouped up as I started to fly away from the onslaught.

I burned my engines to the limit. Still, the Heartless would not stop hunting us. Most of the tanks still had enough energy to keep their barriers up, thankfully; and those who had depleted their reserves still had a very tough armor protecting them. However, my new tank was not as resilient as the A-gear the Wulfpack had given me. I was unwilling to fully trust on the M-gears.

"Will, make me dizzy, goddamn it!!" Baiken yelled as hundreds of missiles raced at us.

"I'll try to draw their fire!" Zephyr exclaimed. He swooped just in front of the projectiles and successfully managed to attract a huge amount of them to his ship. His superior speed meant that he would surely remain unharmed. Yet there were still many missiles threatening to blow us into pieces.

"Stay cool, Will... we'll fix your ship," Sakura assured. I realized her M-gear was right next to us.

"There may be nothing left to fix if I just wait..." I murmured. "It has taken me long enough to grant your wish, Baiken. Hold on!"

"Holy shh—!!" my copilot exclaimed as I flew into the sky, rolling around restlessly.

We flew above the clouds and then dived straight into them. I could barely see anything in the thick, dark fog, yet I kept a steady eye on my radar and skillfully (or luckily, if you want to see it that way) evaded the incoming projectiles. I reckon I was not doing a bad job keeping us alive; Baiken was even holding on to the ship's walls with her arm, while keeping her eye tightly shut.

A B.C.U. B-gear suddenly appeared on my radar. He was approaching us at full speed. I could not see it through the clouds, yet surely his intentions were not good. Instinct alone would save me now... I had to remain a bit still for a few moments and allowed a few Heartless missiles to hit us. The Heartless' shots I could take; but a deadly volley of bombs come from a human gear would no doubt kill us. I had to direct my attention toward the bomber and nothing else.

Before my excitable companion could complain about my strategy, I rolled and avoided all but one bomb. Even that single projectile caused considerable damage. Fortunately, Sakura and Ryoga were near and they promptly repaired my ship. However, the B-gear turned around and attacked again.

"How about a one-on-one fight, abusive jackass?!" my darling shouted as she swooped down against the foe and unleashed a small volley of bombs upon the gear. The ship was severely damaged, but not entirely destroyed.

"Damn bitch!" the pilot yelled and flew away from us at full speed. Ukyo did not chase him.

"Hold on, Will!" Zephyr called and he, along with Sakura, Ryoga, and Ukyo's help destroyed the Heartless that had surrounded me in the blink of an eye. Seeing all the help that I had, I stopped worrying about my armor and began to shoot at the fiends relentlessly, too.

"Thank you all," I sighed. I turned to Baiken and asked: "Are you all right?" I would have laughed in another occasion upon seeing the pale-green color her face had acquired.

"I think you took my request a bit too literally," she murmured, practically swallowing the vomit she had been about to expel from her mouth. "Good job, Willie... good job."

"Guys! I need help!!" Gallger suddenly cried.

"Gallger, what are you doing all the way over there?? Come back to the formation!!" Kobe called.

We hastily descended from the clouds and noticed that opposing gears had driven Gallger away from everyone else. He was alone and was fighting for his life against three I-gears. Without wasting a second, we raced to his aid.

"Damn it!! Leave him alone, you bastards!!" Kobe yelled.

"Get off him, now!!" Honrar exclaimed.

"I knew you Goons were up to no good!!" Twist roared as he noticed that one of the gears attacking our friend belonged to the hated brigade.

"Think what you will, asshole," the pilot replied with an air of superiority.

"We're not letting you get away with this!!" Jam cried. She, along with the rest of the I-gears, made it to Gallger's side. The boy's ship was in terrible shape. He had at least managed to remain alive... he was most skilled.

The enemies were quickly repelled by our companions. Again, they did not chase after them. We did not want to contribute to the hatred that had taken over the battlefield.

"Come over here, Gall, and I'll fix your gear," Jazzy said.

"Okay," the boy replied with relief in his voice.

But no one foresaw that a camouflaged A-gear lay in wait for a prey. When Gallger was in range of his cannon, he fired away without pity. No M-gear was able to help him and the I-gears that accompanied him were caught off guard.

"No way!! Help m—!!"

The lad's cries were lost in the explosion that followed. My heart stopped for a moment as it did its best not to be corrupted by mindless anger. The betrayal was simply too overwhelming... for it had been a B.C.U. gear who had killed our young friend.

"Gallger...?" Kobe muttered, unable and unwilling to believe his eyes and ears. "Cousin...? No... KUJI, FUCK YOU!!" he roared with a broken voice.

"Serves you right, fucking traitors," the tank's pilot replied as he made his way back to his formation.

"You... you son of a bitch...!" Jazzy growled under his breath.

"I'LL KILL YOU!!" Kobe cried and steered his ship to chase after Kuji. However, he was soon snared by a fellow A-gear.

"Kobe, don't lose your head!!" Longtom shouted. "I need you to keep your cool!"

"He killed Gallger, Longtom!! Let me go!!"

"Don't give in, Kobe," Rhino said. "If you give into anger, we'll lose."

"Stay cool and stay together!" Narue added.

Kobe had to swallow both his pride and his desire for revenge for the time being. He silently turned back and returned to our side.

"The Heartless are growing stronger," Sora murmured. "Perhaps not in numbers, but they're becoming stronger and quicker. I bet that the huge monster will soon appear..."

"Hatred calls it – we're screaming for him to show up," Leon said.

"This wasn't supposed to happen..." Donald mused with a confused breath.

"Everyone..." Maici said and slowly raised the tone of her voice. "This shouldn't be a fight of A.N.I. going up against B.C.U... this is a fight of us – of Phillon folk – against a greater threat! Put your hate aside and fight as companions if you don't want to get killed!!" But her words fell on deaf ears and the fight against nations raged on with heavy losses on both sides.

WhiteHawkOne soon appeared amongst our ranks and began to shoot at EvaRaine and Narue. The possessed fiend had already killed many pilots and he had no intention of stopping. The anger in him had turned him into a most dangerous monster. Very soon, both Eva and Narue were in dire need of help, for Eva's ship's energy did not suffice to repair both vessels from the onslaught.

"Get away, you idiot!" the yelled at him and tried to shake him off their tails doing their best not to answer fire. However, WhiteHawkOne was not leaving us much choice.

DjFlaco, Jam, and Siegfried flew to the rescue. Upon being assaulted by these three gears, WhiteHawkOne lost his focus on Eva and Narue. However, he quickly switched targets and started to fire upon my brother. His ship received tremendous damage and was seconds away from being blown up.

This time, I was unable to remain idle.

"Wilheim, I know you don't want to do this, but there's no choice: kill that bastard," Baiken murmured dryly.

"I will not let him harm my brother," I growled and shot at the A.N.I. I-gear without thinking about it any longer.

Siegfried managed to escape from WhiteHawkOne and his ship was quickly restored by our surrounding M-gears. However, the fiend had now targeted me and swooped upon me.

"The crippled is there, right?" the foe groused. "Good! I want to hear her scream when I kill her!"

"You wish!" Baiken yelled and then her tone became low and menacing. "Start saying your prayers, coward. We've suffered your idiocy long enough... this time you'll die, WhiteHawkOne."

"Hah! Let's just see how much!!"

He evaded DJ and Jam's missiles and dived against us. He let loose a flurry of missiles which depleted all of my tank's energy and nearly tore through my armor. About every alarm that the ship possessed went off. Smoke began to pour out from everywhere; even from the control panel. Things were looking extremely bad...

"Wilheim!!" Ukyo cried. She was too far away to help me and there were no M-gears in our proximity to at least restore our normal shields.

"Fuck..." Baiken mumbled, while I remained speechless.

"How about that, you fucker?!" the fiend cackled. "This time you'll end up as a crater!"

The fiend got ready to fire the last volley that would surely annihilate us. There was nothing we could do but to escape the ship, and even so WhiteHawkOne would surely target us and kill us before we could make our escape to a cave or to climb on board another ship. This time I did not think we would be able to survive...

Yet then, a volley of missiles flew against WhiteHawkOne and threw him completely off course. The fiend had been caught by surprise and we were no longer being targeted. As Sakura and Ryoga approached our ship and fixed it, Atermel flew behind the enemy's tail and started to chase him without rest. WhiteHawkOne barrel-rolled and speed up and slowed down, doing his best to escape his opponent. But Atermel would not let another of his brothers be harmed. He let loose a barrage of speedy projectiles that WhiteHawkOne was unable to outrun.

"Fuck!! No!!" the enemy cried. Town Portals would not save him this time. Atermel used his machine gun to finish him completely. "HE—!!" The fiend was no more.

"Damn him..." Atermel muttered. "Are you all right, Will? Baiken?"

"Yes, we're fine, thanks to you," I answered. "You saved our lives..."

"Don't sing your praises yet. There's much more work to be done."

"Good job, kid," Baiken told our rescuer, with a sigh of relief.

"You okay, brother?" Siegfried asked.

"Yes. You are safe now, and that is comforting," I replied. "Remain alert."

Very soon, Kuji returned alongside MasterMenace and some other gears. I sighed and readied myself for another deadly offensive...

"You fools! We've got to stop this!!" Mosfet said as he and his brigade came to our aid.

"For once in your lives, listen to reason!" Pablosky added, while Jusafing and Yopas joined him.

"Traitors will be destroyed!" MasterMenace cried.

"That's it! Your ass is mine!" Apocalypse roared and flew after the fiend.

"Kuji, I'll kill you for what you did to my cousin!" Kobe bellowed.

"A deserter like you doesn't scare me," the A-gear pilot laughed.

"You're the deserter!" Jazzy intervened. "We haven't betrayed B.C.U.! And Tactical Aggression hasn't betrayed A.N.I.! It's you who've betrayed Phillon!"

Wulfpack's leader was unable to contain his anger any longer and assaulted Kuji. The A-gear didn't move an inch and kept firing against Jazzy with all his might, while our friend intelligently restored his shields and repaired his ship. Kobe shot at the fiend with many volleys of missiles, forcing him to turn his barrier on. Little by little, they depleted his energy. Unable to withstand the fury of both ships, Kuji soon fell.

Pablosky, Mosfet, and their respective brigades shot down the Heartless, while the rest of us dealt with the mad pilots. MasterMenace had attacked Shadaoh and had caught him off guard. But before he could utterly destroy him, Gallager damaged his ship and threw him off course. Apocalypse, SniperDog, UpDaBut, and Honrar chased after the speedy I-gear and drew him away from us. Even so, this time they did not stop pursuing him. It was time to put an end to the madness.

As they reached the center of Bark, MasterMenace's thrusters broke down. Honrar had snared him and the fiend had exhausted his ship's energy. The I-gears mercilessly let a rain of projectiles fell upon him and annihilated him. He fell into nothingness while cursing and yelling.

"Anyone else want to behave like a fucking idiot?!" SniperDog demanded.

"People, it's a simple choice: fight against the Heartless on our side, and you may yet live: fight against everyone and you'll get killed for sure," Honrar added.

"Start using your brains, people, or—oh, shit!!" Apocalypse exclaimed. It was then that we noticed that, just past his ship, the enormous monster had finally appeared. It let out a horrifying roar that made every ship tremble as if the Planet was being assaulted by a hurricane. And then, from the clouds, the Heartless' biggest ships appeared.

The fiend extended its arm and took a swipe at our four companions. Apocalypse and UpDaBut managed to escape the deadly attack. Unfortunately, Honrar and SniperDog were not fast enough.

"Mother fuck—!!" Amouth grumbled as we all saw our two friends' ships get crushed. All I could do was to turn my head away from the scene and curse under my breath. "Damn it!! Damn it!!"

"Bloody Heartless bastards!!" Siachen roared with frustration.

The monster's presence did, however, put a halt to the hatred amongst pilots and rather filled their hearts with dread. B.C.U. and A.N.I. stopped firing against each other and tried to fly away the beast. But the monster still had not let loose its potent attack. Few moments after it had assassinated Honrar and SniperDog, it began to draw power from all the shadows about it.

"It's going to attack with his shockwave!" Maici observed. "Everyone, get as far away from that monster as you can and then face him and burn your thrusters as if you wanted to get to him!"

"Get away and then go near it?? Have you lost your damn mind??" DoubleEagle blurted.

"Stop arguing with me! A-gears; plant your ships on the ground and if you feel that you won't hold on, race against the current!"

"You heard the woman, Will," Baiken said.

"I suppose we are far away enough," I gulped. "Brace yourselves, friends!"

Seconds later, the monster unleashed its wrath upon us. Many ships did not manage to get away from the shockwave in time and irremediably exploded upon crashing most violently on the ground. Some others managed to escape their gears before they were entirely destroyed; however, the pilots were quickly assaulted by the rest of the Heartless ships, which were impervious to the monsters' power.

We raced against the invisible wave and managed to keep our ships in place. The I-gears, M-gears, and B-gears were rendered defenseless because of this attack and the Heartless took advantage of the momentary weakness. Many ships fell. The Goons' brigade was completely decimated. Only three of their warriors survived the assault. The Vets were entirely eliminated. However, my fellow A-gear pilots and I soon managed to fend them off, thanks to our turrets' mobility. Moreover, as the monster's attack diminished, the M-gears finally managed to repair the ships' shields and armor.

The Heartless pulled back and started to amass a huge, last offensive. Soon, the monster and the enormous ships joined the force. They had cornered us. Even though the vicious attack had not destroyed us, it had pushed us against the mountains. The Heartless were closing in from all directions.

As we remained there, immobile and confused, Octavius's voice suddenly resounded on our speakers as he spoke the harshest words I had ever heard him say.

"I have traveled through many words and I had never... You are all filled with so much hatred and desire to kill... This world belongs to the Heartless. This world is not worth saving."

No one replied. I found myself out of breath. All I could do was turn to Baiken... she looked a bit surprised for a moment, yet then she seemed to agree with the were-bear by giving a very slight nod with her head. Not one of our companions dared to ask him not to say something of the sort. For his words had been cruelly accurate.

It took the pilots of Phillon a few moments to digest Octavius's statement. At last, it was Maici who had the courage to talk.

"That monster... these creatures... all of this is our doing. And now we're going to die as monsters... The only way to avoid this is to find redemption in each other. A.N.I. and B.C.U. must be no more. We have to find forgiveness in the pilot beside us and fight. Not for ideals; not for vengeance; but to extinguish the hatred that has taken over our hearts. Octavius is right: this world belongs to the Heartless. And that's who we are right now. Let's clean our souls; let's fight for the right to call ourselves human again. We'll fight to save ourselves... as brothers!"

"We can't maneuver in this spot," Riitta answered. Despite her words, her voice had changed. It was the same for all pilots. In the face of death, their true nature was unveiled: and it was the desire to die with honor.

"Form a wall, stick to M-gears," Sora hastily replied. "Let them get to us!"

"These Heartless are going to find out what it's like to mess with these mother fuckers!" DjFlaco roared in excitement.

"We will win!!" Eva yelled.

Our friends' renewed spirit gave us new energies to stand again. At last, they had understood. And, though we were only two-hundred soldiers left, we knew that, united, the Heartless would not be able to withstand our attacks.

The mountains became our allies, for the Heartless were unable to attack from the rear and the sides effectively. As they charged against us dead-on, we all shouted "FIRE!!"

A storm of missiles, bombs, lasers, and machine gun fire deafened the engines of our foes. The fiends' ships exploded one after the other before they could even fire their own projectiles. Those that hit our ships did little damage and said harm was immediately fixed by the M-gears. We had become a wall of fire so intense that the shadows could not get near us without experiencing the pain of our determined flame.

"Everyone, cover us I-gears for a few moments!" Zephyr abruptly yelled.

"I think I know what you're thinking, my good Zeph," Twist chuckled. "Let's go Berserk on their butts!"

"Huh??" Felicia muttered.

"Okay, this is for I-gears only," DjFlaco said, putting special emphasis on 'only'. "A-gears will try this later; B-gears, reframe from doing this unless you want us all to blow up. Felicia, this is what you have to do: rip your lower control panel off; it's possible with slight leverage. Grab the hoses that are behind them; unplug them and then cross colors: don't worry, there are only two pairs and of different colors."

"What'll happen then?" Jam asked.

"You'll see..." Siachen said with a low chuckle of anticipation.

The I-gears stopped shooting for a few moments. The Heartless managed to gain some terrain during these instants. After what Araya had told Adrian, I was beginning to wonder what would happen to the I-gears if they crossed their hoses. I only prayed that someone in A.N.I. had told my dear Ukyo what could happen if she did the same...

"Holy cow!!" Sora yelled.

"Oh, boy!" Donald quacked in surprise.

The I-gears began to fire again. However, there was now no pause between volleys of missiles. It was as if the vessels had gone into frenzy. Additionally, the projectiles were fired with extra potency. Each volley took down an entire row of Heartless. The fiends quickly lost the ground they had conquered with much difficulty. The storm was now a hurricane.

There were still hundreds of Heartless' ships left. However, thanks to the I-gears' 'malfunction', we were quickly evening the numbers. Nevertheless, the immense enemy ships were still functioning and were steadily advancing. The I-gears targeted them and let their unstoppable rain fall upon them. But despite thousands of missiles hit them simultaneously, the ships did not slow down and apparently took little damage.

"Those guys aren't yielding..." Siegfried gulped.

"A-gears: Hyper-Shoot them!" Jazzy shouted.

"What?" I blurted.

"Just like they told the B-gears, Will," Araya said. "Just like I told Adrian – only that he's not the one that has to be doing it."

"I got it the first time," the vampire said.

"And I-gears, be ready to reconnect your hoses the way they were," Dan instructed. "Your ships will soon be powered down for about half a minute, so you'll have enough time to do it. Otherwise, your cannons will melt."

"Understood," Felicia said.

"Which panel did they say...?" I muttered as I frantically looked for a place to stick my hand and pull.

However, Baiken soon spared me the effort. She leaned forward, stuck her fingers in the panel and pulled. Like DJ had said earlier, there were two pairs of hoses of two different colors – green and cyan.

"I suppose you can take it from here," my copilot said.

"Yes... thank you," I mumbled and crossed the hoses.

The tank made a loud sound as if it was going to explode and I became quite alarmed. The turret's cannon became red and began to spark and glow. The over-heat alarm began to sound and I froze.

"Don't worry about a thing, guys," Longtom instructed the rookies – myself included, of course. "Just aim at the big ships and fire as usual. Afterwards, do exactly what Shadaoh just told the I-gears to do: put everything back in order."

"A-all right..." I stammered.

Maici quickly gave instructions as to which A-gears would fire upon a select ship. If we all fired together against one, we would surely obliterate it, but there would still be nine left.

The organization was quick. The M-gears and the B-gears did a good job while keeping the Heartless' smaller ships at bay while the I-gears regained functionality and while the tanks targeted the behemoths...

"Bring them down!!" Jazzy shouted.

The moment I pulled the trigger, the A-gear powered down and violently shook as it fired the blast which could best be described as apocalyptic. The enormous ships' shields broke like a cup of delicate glass and its armor bent like burnt paper. The shot was so powerful that even nearby, smaller ships fell because of the energized shockwave. In a matter of seconds, the Heartless' elite fleet was reduced to scrap.

"Way to go, guys!!" Goofy cheered.

"That was awesome!!" Ranma laughed.

"Don't sing your praises yet, guys. We still have to take down the big guy," Amouth said.

"It's getting very near..." Narue said in a low, frightened voice.

Indeed, the enormous fiend kept walking at a steady pace, protected by a shield of hundreds of Heartless' ships. Surely we would whittle him into nothingness once we got rid of the little pests surrounding him... Yet the vessels abruptly flew aside and let the great foe unprotected as it began to run at us.

"Oh, crap..." we muttered.

Missiles and bombs flew at the fiend. The A-gears soon became operational again and aided in the assault. But our projectiles bounced off the Heartless like pebbles hitting a rubber bed. The explosions did not do the least harm. The fiend did not even bother to cover his eyes; he was impervious to our blasts.

"Scatter!!" Maici yelled.

We all immediately flew away from the Heartless enemy as it brought its fist with fury upon the mountains and obliterated them. Luckily, we did not lose pilots to this particular assault.

"Get together! Everyone, get together!"

The Heartless ships attacked us from every possible angle. We were still vastly outnumbered, so it was difficult to focus on single targets. All we could all do was to withstand the blows as much as possible and race to an M-gear so it could repair the damage done to our vessels before they crumbled.

"Move as one... M-gears, concentrate on repairing; don't waste your missiles. The rest of the gears, fire at will against the monster," Maici said.

We moved like a flock of eagles. We had stopped paying attention to the smaller vessels and simply concentrated on the huge menace. As we passed near his, we fired every missile and bullet to every spot of his body. But every spot of his body had the resilience of a mountain and the monster effortlessly took a swoop at us. This time, he took a few ships with his open hand and crushed them like flies.

"It has to have a weak spot! It has to!" Sora yelled.

"Let's make another pass!" Jazzy said.

Again, we dived from the clouds and attacked. And once more, even though we shot at every part of him, the fiend practically mocked our futile attempt to defeat him. It raised its leg high into the air in a kick and knocked down three more pilots.

"This isn't working!!" Eva shouted.

"Retreat to the North!" Jazzy ordered.

We had no choice but to flee from the might opponent. The fiend gloated in our failure and he and the Heartless' ships remained behind as we flew across Bark, waiting for us to come near them again so they would destroy us with impunity.

Hope began to wane. The soldiers' morale was now a sad memory. Everyone thought their time had come. The pilots wept over their dear ones that had fell into battle, certain that they would soon join them in their eternal slumber. Even I began to think that this time there was no possible way to attain victory. But Sora had not yet given up.

"Guys, we're not going to lose!" he said with resolve. "We can win if we keep a steady nerve and strong hearts! I promise you we can win!"

"Didn't you see what happened?" one of the pilots asked. "We should have at least knocked one of his arms down, and we didn't do squat!"

"We scratched his skin," another one replied. "I saw it."

"Scratched... whoopee-fucking-doo," a third said. "Even if we did hurt the thing, it would take hundreds of assaults to bring it down. We're less than two-hundred people now... We're not going to make it."

"We have to think of a way," my darling said. "I'm not going to die here, you hear? Stop thinking negatively and let's all try to figure out a way to deal with this. There's always a solution."

"Yeah... there always is," Maici said.

Something in her voice had changed. Her energy somehow seemed to have vanished. As if she was tired. To hear her like this got me quite preoccupied.

"Maici, do not give up hope," I said. "We will win through. I assure you."

"We will. I know..." she sighed and made a slight pause before speaking again. "Ziggy, I need you to give all your energy to my shield."

"M-gears can do that?" Jam asked.

"Um... why, Maici?" Ziggy asked.

"I am going to reconnect my ship's hoses."

For a moment, I did not understand. It took me a few seconds to realize what she meant. I lost my breath when I finally understood.

"...Maici, no," Ziggy murmured. "Calm down, there has to be another way."

"Another way would imply losing more pilots. It's a simple question of numbers," Tactical Aggression's leader said with a tired giggle.

"No, no, no, Maici," my darling hastily said. "No, there's no need to do that. We can figure something out."

"It won't be long before they attack again," Maici assured. "There's no time to lose."

"Bloody hell, Maici, rethink this for a second!" Siachen pressed.

"Ziggy: do it," the woman said with a determined air.

"This is all fucked up..." Baiken mumbled, covering her face with her hand. I could not find any words.

"Please... guys, let's calm down..." Sora said. His voice was filled by dread. "Let's think... let's..."

"Ziggy... Please," Maici insisted.

The radio was filled by moans of fright, sobs, and pleas. Every one of them came from Tactical Aggression's pilots... including my Ukyo's. And with a broken heart, Ziggy finally accepted Maici's request.

"All right..." he said with a shattered voice. "Here..."

Maici's ship glowed as her ships became nigh invulnerable. She uttered an almost inaudible 'thank you' and slowly turned her ship to the overconfident Heartless, which were still taunting us from far away.

"From this distance, the explosion won't hurt you, guys," Maici said. "Stay here."

"Maici..." Jazzy mumbled. He paused for a second and then managed to murmur: "You're the bravest woman I've ever known."

"Thank you..." the woman muttered. "Ziggy, take care of them."

"I will..." the pilot muttered.

"No, Maici!" Dan shouted.

Without another word, the fearless pilot started her final race. However, the younger Tactical Aggression soldiers could not bear to see their leader make such a run and they rushed forth while yelling her name, pleading her to come back. My Ukyo was among these people.

"Ukyo, come back!!" I yelled and instinctively began to follow her.

"Maici, don't go!!" she pleaded. "You don't have to do this!"

"Shit!! What now?!" Kobe yelled in alarm.

"...Don't come with me, guys," Maici said. "It's not worth it."

"I'm sorry, guys..." Ziggy sniveled as he raced at Dan and formed him.

"Ziggy?! What the heck are you doing?! Let me go!!" the pilot cried.

"Djneff, snare Zephyr," Ziggy ordered.

"...I..." the A-gear soldier did as he was told.

More tanks and M-gears rushed at Tactical Aggression's pilots and forcefully pulled them away from Maici, despite their cries and pleas. Tactical Aggression was not losing a leader: they were losing their big sister.

Only two pilots managed to keep up with Maici: Ukyo and I.

"Ukyo, come back!!" I yelled.

"Kid, let her go!!" Baiken added.

"No!!" Ukyo answered. "I won't let her die! I won't let you do this, Maici! I'm not going to let you die! Come back, please!!"

"Go back to Wilheim, Ukyo," Maici softly responded.

"No, please!!" my darling yelled with a completely broken voice.

"Will... you have to snare her," Baiken murmured.

"But..." my voice trailed off. I did not know what to do.

"She risked her life for us, Wilheim! She risked her life so we could be together!! Don't let her do this!!" Ukyo yelled.

"I..."

A thousand thoughts assaulted my mind. I did not know what to do. What could be done? I was hopelessly confused, sad, and afraid...

"Wilheim... save her," Maici said with a heart-breaking gentleness that will forever haunt me.

I finally began to shed tears. I understand what had to be done... I had to save my darling to condemn the brave woman.

"Will...!" Baiken muttered, running out of patience.

"I know..." I said. "Forgive me..." to this day, I do not know whose forgiveness I had asked. And so, I snared my Ukyo.

"NO!!" she exclaimed. "No, Wilheim, stop it!! Let me go!! Maici, no!! Let me go!!"

I dragged my dearest away from the battle field and back to the rest of the gears and kept a firm grip on her ship as Maici approached the horrid monster. The dark beings started to surround her as her vessel began to sparkle. And then, the Heartless surrounded her. They became a dark whirlwind which absorbed her, extinguishing the light she had emitted; but their hunger for her brave heart would become their undoing.

"Don't let hatred be..."

A second later, an immense explosion shook Bark's soil. I had to shut my eyes and look away, for the blast was so bright that if I had stared at it for more than a second, it would have blinded me. However, we all heard the deafening roar of the explosion and the Heartless' agonizing yell. The monster's skin, once hard as diamond, was crushed like tinfoil under the weight of God's finger. Every Heartless ship was evaporated with that blast. The only memory of their presence in Phillon was their ashes which were quickly carried away by the wind... And when all had ended, Bark became silent.

Every ship landed in the dirt. The pilots exited their vessels and stared at the place where the immense Heartless had once emitted its roar. There were relieved faces; puzzled, disappointed, and tranquil ones, too. But there was not a single smile. And all of Tactical Aggression's members wept. The younger ones knelt on the ground and pounded it with frustration, while Ziggy and the other veteran fighters simply limited themselves to shed silent tears.

I turned to my Ukyo's ship and saw her exit her gear. She stared at me and my heart gave a leap of fright and sadness. With tears in her eyes, my darling raced at me. And then, she slapped me with a heavy hand. The hit was so fierce that even Baiken leapt back in surprise.

"You bastard!!" she cried. "We could've done something!! You could've helped me stop her!! She told me she'd do anything to help us be together!! And now she's dead!!"

Ukyo had hit me many times before, in training. And, of course, the attacks she unleashed during our sparring sessions had always been quite brutal. But she had never assaulted me to hurt me. Not in that way... That slap had shaken my already broken heart, and her insult had felt like boiling oil. I only managed to turn to her with tear-filled eyes and utter: "I'm sorry..."

But my dearest soon reconsidered her feelings and started to sob. She threw her arms around my neck and squeezed hard while hiding her face on my chest. I chose to forget the painful slap for the time being and held her tenderly.

"This shouldn't have happened... This wasn't supposed to happen...!" she moaned. "I'm sorry, Maici...!"

"It is all right, darling..." I murmured, trying to keep a firm voice. "I am sorry..."

_(Change of scene)_

Getting ready for a funeral ceremony brought an odd sensation. Although I had lost dear ones in the past, I had never paid them proper tribute, so to speak. I had always said good-bye to my beloved folk with bitter tears and with a fatal feeling of solitude. This was the first time I would be able to hold my friends' hand and mourn in respectful silence. Yet, I must admit, sadness was not the only feeling that assaulted my heart: I was a bit angry, as well.

As I struggled to button my shirt properly (I had never wore one of the sort), Ukyo suddenly knocked on my door.

"May I come in?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied with a slightly dry voice.

My beloved came inside and shut the door behind her. She quickly noticed the mess that was my shirt.

"Oh, dear... you have no clue of what you're doing, do you?" she asked.

"I confess I am not familiar with these clothes," I retorted.

"Let me give you a hand," she said and aided me with what seemed to me an impossible task.

As she buttoned my shirt in silence, I could see in her eyes why she was there. I chose to remain quiet and let her do the talking if she was ready to do so.

"Wilheim..." she murmured. "I'm sorry."

"It is all right," I sighed.

"No, it's not," she immediately replied and took a step away from me. "I... I shouldn't have done what I did. It was... just..." She could barely find the words. "Please, forgive me."

"I know why you did it. You do not have to apologize."

"Wilheim, please. I'm not an idiot. I know when you're angry. And you have the right to be angry. But don't hide it from me, please..."

She was right. I had to be honest with her.

"Of course I am upset," I confessed. "I raced after you and I had to snare your ship to save you from a death which would have broken my heart and my spirit. And instead of being thanked for that, I get a slap in the face and a slur. I..." I stopped and sighed. Yet as I saw her face filled with regret, I understood she had meant her apology. And I could not stay mad at her for much more time. "But I am sincere. I understand why you did it. You were confused and sad." I gently put my hand on her shoulder. "Maici was a very good friend to you, wasn't she?"

"I only knew her for a few days, and yet... I feel terrible. I feel responsible for her death... For all their deaths... Jerry... Honrar..."

"It is not your fault, Ukyo. Do not blame yourself."

"But... what would you have done if it would've been me?" she asked while looking into my eyes.

"...I probably would have raced alongside you," I admitted. "If I could have not saved you, then I would have died by your side."

"That would've been foolish..."

"Perhaps... But to me, life is worthless if you are not here. All I want is to be with you... And, like you said, Maici died for this."

She nodded silently and then embraced me. I gently kissed her and comfortingly ran my fingers through her soft hair.

"Take heart, darling. If we can find Gabrielle, I am sure we can get her and the others back to life," I assured, yet she shook her head and slowly stepped back. "It is always possible, Ukyo. You know this..."

"It's not a matter of being able to do it," she replied. "I'm sure we could do it... but we must not do it."

"...I don't understand," I muttered, taken aback by her words.

"I've given this a lot of thought. And at first, I shared your idea," she explained. "But, despite those last moments of battle when the B.C.U. and the A.N.I. fought together, the truce between Arlington and Bygeniou is still very fragile." She fixed her eyes on me again and went on. "Maici died in order to attain peace between nations... B.C.U. and A.N.I. have to realize this sacrifice. They must learn from their actions and understand what hatred can do. And that won't happen if she comes back to life. Those who gave their lives to achieve this cease-fire can't be brought back... Maici will only find her wish granted in the afterlife. Do you understand now, Wilheim?"

Realizing the terrible wisdom of her words, all I could do was to nod in silence. Without saying another word, she finished buttoning my shirt and then we parted to the Bygeniou plaza, where the funeral ceremony was about to take place... followed by the ceremony of the cessation of hostilities between nations.


	15. Chapter 14: The Cursed Castle

Hey, all. Hope you've all been fine. I know I've taken a real sweet time to update (what a shock), but this time, school's not to blame... It's work. Yep, I answer to daddy government now, I'm afraid. Which is good, on one hand...

A new character will make her appearance in this chapter. She doesn't belong to me – she was conceived by fellow writer _Minako the Dragon Maiden of DW_, who asked me to include some of her original characters in the story. Expect to see more of them in the future (of course, I'll let you all know which characters are hers when the time comes).

Until next time, I hope you enjoy. See ya!

_Chapter Fourteen: The Cursed Castle_

_Narrator: Sora_

When we had first begun our adventure, I was confident that we would all win. I had made the grave mistake of underestimating the Heartless. One could almost say that I had forgotten of our past battles, where we had nearly lost our lives; to me, it had seemed an opportunity to see my friends again. But that last battle against the Heartless had really opened my eyes. For the first time in a very long while, I felt worried. I wasn't sure if all of us would make it through. It was a dreadful thought.

All these thoughts made the funeral service even sadder. I felt awful. I was the Keyblade master and I was supposed to go to other worlds to help people out. But I had been unable to help my companions. Mostly, I guess, I sort of felt responsible. If I had thought of something sooner, Maici would probably still be with us. If I had intervened, Gallger would be beside his cousin. If only...

Jazzy and Ziggy did most of the talking. They talked about the good times they had had with their friends, what excellent warriors they had been, and how much they would be missed. Afterwards, Ziggy reluctantly assumed command of Tactical Aggression. I didn't see one of them that wasn't shedding tears for their lost pals.

After the funeral service ended, Jazzy and Ziggy, in everyone's presence, signed a peace treaty. It stated that Bygeniou and Arlington would cease hostilities against each other and would coexist in harmony and would strive to build a solid friendship. And, the moment both leaders signed their names on the paper, it began to glow... Yeah – I was half-expecting the peace treaty to become the item necessary to lock the Heartless out of Phillon. With a sigh, I raised my Keyblade, pointed at it and the keyhole became visible. Moments later, it was sealed.

Our mission accomplished at last, there was nothing left for us in that world. Wulfpack and Tactical Aggression got together and bid us farewell.

"We'll try our best so that the next time you come back, you'll find a peaceful, welcoming planet," Jazzy said.

"The safest way out is through the moon," Ziggy added. "We hope you have a good journey and that you'll succeed in your mission."

"Take care, guys. Until we meet again," I sighed as we boarded the Gummi ships and left Phillon. As we looked at the planet one last time, we couldn't help but to wonder how long the world would remain in peace...

_(Change of scene)_

Donald, Goofy, and I were on the same ship as Felicia, Siegfried, Baiken, Jam, Ukyo, and Will. The rest of the guys were on the other vessel. Jam and Baiken had chosen to come with us because they wanted to train with Ukyo and Wilheim for a bit... and Baiken wanted to stay as far away as possible from Adrian, of course. Anyway, it seemed that my friends had found something to entertain themselves with. I would've liked to train with them... but I was afraid Baiken would punch my lights out if I asked them. It occurred to me, however, that I might get my mind off all the issues I've mentioned by piloting the ship. Felicia and I had to take turns, 'cause she wanted to drive the vessel, too. I guess she had a lot to think about as well.

It had been about two days since we had left Phillon. I was piloting the ship while Ukyo and the others trained for a while. I supposed it wouldn't take them long to wrap it up... it's not like there's much room for fighting inside the Gummi ship. You can only stand and attack with your arms without moving, so you can just limit yourself to an arm-only battle or exercise. Well, either way, I think Siegfried was taking a nap or something. I was by myself.

Donald and Goofy soon joined me. They sat down beside me in silence. Supposing they weren't in the mood for talking, I let out a sigh. However, by doing that I was proven wrong as Goofy patted my shoulder and said:

"Come on, Sora, cheer up."

"This ship runs on happy faces, remember?" Donald added.

"I know," I said, with a weak grin. "Sorry, guys... But you can't ask me to be really cheerful after what happened."

"But you can't be bitter all the time. You'll end up just like Octavius," Donald quacked.

"Yeah, right," I said, allowing myself a chuckle.

"There's nothing we can do about it now, Sora," Goofy declared. "And not everything was bad. Arlington and Bygeniou are now at peace, remember?"

"Still, a lot of people died," I sighed. "I'm worried about all you guys. I mean, I'm really afraid of losing any of you. We already lost Wilheim and Ukyo once... Thankfully we got them back, but, what if we hadn't? I... I don't know. It's just that it makes me nervous..."

"Come on, Sora. Don't think that way," Donald said. "We're all together in this and we look after each other. We'll do okay, believe me."

"I thought that once too..."

"What's up, guys?" Felicia interrupted. "Sounds like Sora's a bit blue. Anyway I can help?" She stood behind me and gently shoved me aside. "It's my turn on the driver seat. Move over."

"Okay... I was telling Donald and Goofy that I'm worried about losing any one of you. I suppose you feel the same way," I guessed.

"Why would you think that?" she retorted, sitting behind the controls and giving me a questioning look.

"Well, piloting the ship is a good way to put your problems momentarily aside," I answered.

"Ah! You, my friend, have excellent deductive skills," she meowed with a smile. "However, that's not what concerns me."

"It's not?"

"Tell him, Felicia," Donald urged. "Everything's gonna be all right as long as we look out for each other, right?"

"I believe that," Felicia said. "Listen, Sora: we've had our share of problems in the past, but it always works out. I know it's scary: but you have to try and stay positive. Just put your mind and body into it and you'll see we'll all be home quite soon. Well... maybe not that soon, but we'll come through."

I'm not sure why, but her positivism was sort of contagious. However, I wasn't going to give in that easily.

"Well, let's face it: we didn't that well in Phillon. A lot of people died... And I feel responsible for it."

"That's the problem: you weren't responsible for their deaths. Your job – our job – was to stop the Heartless and we managed to do that. The war between Bygeniou and Arlington was all that caused this mess, and we didn't have to do anything with it. Okay, so maybe we fought against the nations for a bit, but that was because we couldn't have known better. Even though I killed that pilot, my conscience is clean." She paused for a moment before going on. "I've been praying a lot... Praying always helps me. And I know that we did the right thing. Moreover, we helped to forge a truce." She turned to me and added: "You already have a heavy burden to carry: but you're taking it like a champ. Don't carry more than you have to, Sora."

"She's right, Sora," Goofy said. "It's not your fault. We all know you always do your best."

"That's right," the cat-woman agreed. "Don't you dare feel guilty, okay? We did a good job back there... even though it may not look like it."

"I guess you're right, guys," I said, with a sigh of relief and drew a genuine smile on my face.

"That's the spirit!" Donald quacked. "It's good to see you smile again."

"Thanks, Donald..." I mumbled, patting his back. "I'm glad we could talk."

"That's what we're here for," Felicia said.

"Felicia, may I ask you something?" Goofy questioned.

"Hmm?"

"How come the guys always say you're such a terrible pilot? Personally, I think you're the best among us."

"Ah, you know... one little incident with some Heartless ships and your reputation suffers for life. Speaking of faults, it's not my fault that Vincent is such a sissy when it comes to evading a Heartless attack. At least I'm glad you know who's really number one, Goofy."

"I see," I chuckled. "But there's one thing that still bothers me, Felicia."

"What's that?"

"If you're not troubled about what happened in Phillon, then what's bothering you?"

"I'm going to give you two guesses, but you're only going to need one," the cat-woman said while eyeing me.

"Oh... Octavius?"

"Yep. Freaking Octavius," she confirmed.

"Seriously, I don't know how you can like the guy," Donald said.

"LIKED," she corrected. I don't know if she was being serious or if she was just still really, really mad at him. "I don't know either. Guess I'm a bit crazy."

"A bit..." I snorted playfully.

"Watch it, mister," she warned just as lightheartedly, gaining a chuckle from all of us. "Anyway, have any of you seen Octavius speak to me?"

"Well—" we began, but were hastily interrupted.

"Of course not. He hasn't said a word to me. The least he could do is to explain why the heck—you know what? It doesn't matter. It's clear to me now that Octavius doesn't want a relationship. He just wants to get the job done. I'm sure we're just letting him tag along because he's strong. Otherwise, to hell with him."

"Come on..." I ventured to say. "I'm sure you don't mean that."

"Yeah, you're right," she admitted. "But I'm very, very mad at him. Seriously, I wish I could be on the other ship: I would practically be rooting for Adrian to piss him off."

"Then it's a good thing you're here," Goofy chuckled.

"Yeah: Adrian has a tendency to piss people off," Donald added.

"Oh, yes..." Felicia said. She remained silent for a few moments and then began to giggle. "'Point C is invalid...'" she quoted. "'No one likes Octavius...'"

Now that things were calm, upon remembering that moment, we all snorted and then laughed it off. It had been a very smart commentary, although it wasn't completely true. I mean, I like Octavius, even though he can be a pain. But Adrian sure knows how to be funny.

"That was a good one," Donald said.

"It was great," the cat-woman giggled. "I mean, even Baiken had to contain her laughs, and she can't stand Adrian. That's the closest I've ever seen her laugh from one of his jokes."

"Really? I don't think I've ever seen her laugh. It's actually very rare to see her smile," I commented.

"Is that so?" a voice said from behind us. Guess who it belonged to.

Taken completely by surprise, I leapt from my seat in alarm. However, my legs got stuck with the control panel and I fell like a sack of potatoes. Felicia, Donald, and Goofy covered their mouths and tried really hard not to laugh their heads off, although they were unable to contain some chuckles and snorts. With my heart racing like a go-kart, I faced Baiken and Wilheim, who had just finished their training and had decided to join us in the worst possible moment. Nevertheless, thanks to my pitiful performance, they were both smiling. I suppose that when Baiken realized how terrified I was of her, she decided to take it easy on me, thankfully. And I'm completely honest with you when I say that: that woman scared me.

"Tell me a good 'knock knock' joke sometime and I'll be glad to humor you, kid," she said and sat down along with Will, who was now laughing as well.

"I'm sorry," I hastily apologized. "I didn't mean to... I mean, I was just—"

"Sora, do not make things worse on yourself," Wilheim said.

"I... yeah..." I managed to say and sat down again, turning my head to the empty space before us while gulping hard.

"How long have you guys been there?" Goofy asked.

"Long enough to hear that Hello Kitty liked the stupid were-bear," Baiken answered.

"I see," Felicia meowed and let out a final chuckle.

"I know it's none of my goddamn business and I usually wouldn't give a crap about who you like or don't like, but this is an exception. How can you like – or have liked – that asshole?"

"I don't know! I just did," the cat-woman replied. "You know... despite everything, he has a good heart."

"Whoopi-fucking-doo," the woman grumbled and Wilheim inevitably chuckled. She glanced at him very quickly and smiled softly while shaking her head. "Deep down inside, he may be Gandhi. That still doesn't take away the fact that he acts like a magnificent prick."

"I said I don't know! It just happened; I just happened to like the guy. It's not like I chose to like him. Maybe... I guess... I guess I sort of felt sorry for him."

Baiken did not say another word. She only gave a slight nod with her head and looked away.

"Hey, how about we change the subject?" Felicia proposed. We had to give her a rest... "Where are Ukyo, Jam, and Siegfried?"

"Ukyo and Jam are preparing dinner," Wilheim informed. "As for my brother, I think he is still sleeping."

"That bum," I chuckled and got up from my seat.

"Where are you going?" asked Donald.

"Um... to the kitchen, to help..." I replied. "Um... besides, I want to know how Ukyo is doing..."

"She is doing a bit better now. She is not precisely euphoric, as you might expect... as are we all," Wilheim said.

"Yeah, I know..."

"Hold on a second, mister," Felicia interrupted, raising her leg to keep me from going any farther. "What you really want to know is how Jam is looking, don't you?"

"Whaaa?? Me?? N-no!" I stammered. I think I blushed... which obviously caused Goofy and Donald to almost laugh their heads up. "It's not funny!"

"Of course it is!" Donald exclaimed.

"You should be ashamed, sir," Felicia mumbled with a grin that reminded me a lot of Adrian. "What would Kairi say?"

"Hey, it's not like...! I'm not...!" I stuttered, getting even more nervous. I should've just shut up, instead of continue to dig my own grave.

"What the fuck is it with you, men?" Baiken interrupted "Is Marmalade Jam some kind of fucking... siren? Or is it that God put your brains in the wrong part of your body?"

"Begging your pardon, Baiken, but I am not sure if you should be saying that about me, since I chose – and I will always choose for that matter – my Ukyo over Jam. Clearly my brains are where they are supposed to be," Wilheim interrupted while chuckling.

Baiken stared at him fixedly for a few seconds and then retorted, with a smile: "I'm not so sure about your brains, dummy: I don't know if you have any, at all."

"Hey!"

"Let's give the credit to your heart," she stated, making Felicia, Donald, Goofy, and Wilheim himself laugh. "Okay; you're clear, Willie. But what's your excuse, kid?" she asked, turning to me.

"He's fifteen, Baiken," Felicia quickly replied.

"Huh? What's that got to do with anything?" I muttered.

"Hmm; Hello Kitty, you've got a point," Baiken mumbled with a big grin. "Well, get out of here, Keyblade master. Just try not to be too obvious."

"But I... Bah, I don't have to take this from you," I said, doing my best to sound offended and headed toward the kitchen. This, of course, only caused my friends to mock me further, while Baiken simply lit her pipe and started to smoke it.

Ranma and Ryoga taught me the exact term of what I was feeling later on: eye candy. It was not as if I had forgotten about Kairi (I know I would've stayed by her side like a remora if she were with us)... but Jam was really cute... maybe talking to her would help me with Kairi.

Sure, my intentions were educational and pure. Jeez, even I didn't buy that.

The girls hadn't begun cooking. They were just preparing the ingredients for whatever they were planning to make. Either way, I'm sure it would taste great. After all, we had the best two cooks of our little group. I was wondering how the other group was doing... Hopefully Akane wasn't cooking for them. I've never tasted her recipes, but I've heard horror stories about them.

Anyway, like Wilheim had said, Ukyo didn't seem too jovial. Jam seemed to be doing her best to cheer her up, but I don't know if she was the right person to do so. By the look of things, Ukyo got along with her but didn't completely trust her. Because of what the guys had told me, she now considered her a good companion, yet still not a true friend. However, Jam was sincerely trying to win her. It wasn't a trick to get her to drop her guard, or anything... Well, either way, maybe I could be of some help.

"Hey, girls," I said.

"Oh, hi, Sora," Ukyo greeted with a soft smile.

"Hey, Sora," Jam added... Boy, did she look nice right after workout... Dang it! Felicia and Baiken were right...

"Um... how are you feeling?" I asked my good friend as I approached her. I was a bit too bashful to speak to Jam directly just like that...

"So-so, but I'm working on it," she answered. "Thanks, sugar," she said and messed with my hair a bit.

"Um... anything I can do to help?"

"No, I don't think so, Sora. But thank you anyway." That wasn't the answer I was hoping to hear...

"Wow, you're still way depressed, Kuonji," Jam observed. "If you cook with that sort of depression, the food will make us all cry. Didn't you ever see 'Like Water for Chocolate'?"

"I'm not a fan of magical realism, Jam," Ukyo said.

"Maybe a drink would help you feel better?" she asked and quickly fetched a bottle of Tequila. Wondering where that came from? Come on, I'm sure you've figured it out by now.

"No way, Jam! That's Baiken's stuff!"

"She got three bottles from the people of Phillon; screw her. Come on: one drink. Literally, one drink... 'cause you can't hold your liquor. I only want you to feel better, not to get drunk altogether."

"That's sweet of you. You could've at least waited for Sora to leave," Ukyo said and blushed.

"He can keep a secret, right, handsome?" Jam asked, winking at me. If I would've been a cartoon, I would've turned into a wolf and howled.

"Y-yeah, s-sure!" I clumsily stuttered.

"...All right," Ukyo sighed. "One drink. That'll be it, okay?"

"Baiken won't even notice. I promise."

She quickly poured barely some drops on a glass and handed it over to Ukyo, who drank it in the blink of an eye and returned the glass to Jam just seconds after she had handed her the drink.

"That bad, huh?"

"Come on, let's start cooking."

"Are you sure you don't need help, Ukyo?" I asked again. I was really starting to get worried about her.

She turned to me and showed me a genuine sweet smile. She approached me and gave me a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm going to be okay, sugar. I promise," she assured. "Really, guys: I appreciate your concern, but stop worrying already! I just need some time to assimilate it. I just need some time to... get back to my charming self." She let out a long, apparently relieved sigh. "Let's start cooking dinner, Jam. That'll make me feel better."

"That's the spirit, Ukyo," Jam said cheerfully. "Why don't you stick around, Sora? Maybe you can help a bit."

"Sure!" I replied. Now that was the offer I was hoping to hear.

I momentarily became a kitchen assistant. This also meant that I was turned into a taster, and since we're talking about Ukyo and Jam here, that meant gastronomical heaven. I swear, the things those two can cook... Although I wasn't precisely there for the food... Jeez... If Baiken were there, she would've slapped me silly.

After a while, Siegfried decided to join us. I really hoped he had slept through the cooking process...

"What are you lovely ladies up to?" he asked, eyeing Jam, obviously. He was such the party-pooper.

"We're making good food, handsome. Care to try a bit?" Jam retorted with a coquettish smile.

"Of course. I couldn't be happier."

"You done sleeping, bum?" I intervened.

"I wasn't sleeping. I was reading. The book that you're supposed to read, by the way," he answered with a chuckle. "You should take a look at it, shorty."

"You're like an inch taller than me!"

"If you scale that inch up to four or five, then maybe you'd be right..."

"Siegfried, taste the food and shut up," Ukyo quickly grumbled.

"Whoa, easy, sister-in-law... I'm only kidding with Sora." He had quickly changed his mocking tone into a friendlier one. It's amazing the effect Jam had upon us... even when none of us had a chance with her (at least I didn't).

"Yeah, sure. Not in the mood for fights, guys."

"Easy, Ukyo, they're just here to help. Aren't you, boys?" Jam said and gave us a quick glance which wasn't the least arousing. Rather, she was quietly asking us to stop quarreling. What can I say? Her wish was my command.

"I'm glad being a kitchen assistant," I bashfully replied. "So... what did the book say, Siegfried?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'll tell you about it later..." Yeah, that's what I had thought.

"_I've got a secret... I've been hiding... under my skin_," Felicia suddenly intervened as she came into the kitchen singing a rather sticky melody I'd never heard before. "_My heart is human... my blood is boiling... my brain I.B.M..._"

"What's with the 'Mr. Roboto', Felicia?" Ukyo asked letting out a giggle upon seeing her so cheerful. Besides, her voice was comparable to that of a professional singer.

"I'm trying to shake off 'Sehnsucht', and your stupid boyfriend's to blame," the cat-woman asked, taking the liberty of grabbing a bite from the nearly ready food. "Mmh-mmh! Delicious!"

"He's not stupid... And 'Rammstein' isn't all that bad... Well, before you listen to it three-hundred times. Right now I'm pretty sick of them myself."

"They suck! All they do is growl... and besides, every song is an eternal five-note-loop. Dang, they're so bad!"

"I've never heard them," Jam said.

"Me neither," Siegfried and I quickly added.

"Lucky you," Felicia said. "Even though I'm sure you've heard them on the radio before. And I'm also certain that you switched stations. Ukyo, I mean it: you've got to reeducate Wilheim. Teach him how to listen to good music."

"It's not our fault if you don't like heavy rock groups, Felicia," Ukyo retorted with a playful laugh. I was glad she was forgetting about her sadness... Even though I had no idea of what the heck they were talking about.

"I do like some groups! The good ones! 'Iron Maiden'! 'Metallica'! Those are your good groups!"

"Okay, you've got a point. It's just that I don't think Wilheim ever heard those... Before all of this mess, I was going to introduce him to 'Rhapsody'."

"See? You know good music! Gee, I should even sing him a bit of 'Guardiani del Destino' or something..."

"I'm completely lost in this conversation," Siegfried announced.

"Ah, don't worry. You'll all understand when we get back home. I've got to reeducate some of you. And that includes Adrian, with his 'Superman blows' theory."

"God, it seems like I ended in the kindergarten ship," Jam giggled. That comment sort of stung...

"Hey, you don't like it, you can always go and have an adult conversation with your friend fun-aunt-Baiken," Felicia murmured.

We all cracked right there. We covered our mouths and did our best not to laugh too hard. After all, we didn't want the aforesaid woman to hear us.

"Who the heck came up with that?" Jam asked between chuckles.

"Take a guess," I answered.

"Oh, God, that vampire's out of his mind!"

"Please, guys... she's not that bad," Ukyo said as she regained her breath.

"I'm not discussing that, Kuonji. It's just that... she could try to smile every once in a while. And not while making fun of other people, I mean. I know she's a good person, but she's so annoying! Not to you, I'm sure: you and Will are about the only people in the universe that she likes," Jam quickly added as she saw Ukyo was about to say something. In the end, the blue-eyed girl limited herself to shrug and kept on cooking.

"Ah, don't worry about that now. Either way, I shouldn't have said that..." Felicia mumbled. "Please, promise me you won't call her like that, guys."

"I may not like her, but I'm not stupid," Jam giggled. "I'll leave that to Adrian."

"Don't gobble up all the food! Be sure to leave something for me!" Donald suddenly cried from the command seat. We immediately noticed he hadn't addressed us.

"Surely, Donald," Wilheim replied as he, Goofy, and Baiken entered the room. "I've got news, friends. We have confirmed with Leon that there is a world about two hours away from here. We will head there and see what its state is."

We heard what he said and we assimilated it, but we didn't really pay that much attention to him. Upon seeing Baiken, all of us remembered the last joke and were on the dangerous verge of exploding in laugher. Ukyo was the only one who wasn't in this predicament. She only smiled and shook her head, but nothing more. However, the rest of us were turning red. It was going to come out and there was no way of stopping it.

"What is so funny?" Wilheim questioned with a confused glance.

"It's just that Felicia told us that you think that a cow's fart is music," Siegfried hastened to say.

That was the perfect excuse. We all burst out in laughter. Even Ukyo let out a few chuckles. Of course, Wilheim didn't seem too pleased, but I guess we all rather face his anger than Baiken's.

"I am glad I am once again your laughing stock," he grumbled as even Goofy chuckled a bit and Baiken smiled in silence. Boy, if she had only known...

"It's true, Will!" Felicia quickly exclaimed. "Rammstein is a horrible, horrible group!"

"While I may not be the musical expert, I still enjoy listening to them. And you've got no saying in this, Siegfried, for you've never heard them."

"I don't know, Wilheim," Siegfried chuckled. "Comparing how you and Felicia sing, I think I'm going to trust her on this."

They kept on arguing for a while before dinner was ready. Upon eating, Wilheim forgot all about his bad mood. For our part, I think it's safe to say that we were feeling much better before we started to gobble up Ukyo and Jam's food. All those idle chit-chats... they may appear useless, but they actually serve a good purpose. We were more than ready to take on the Heartless when we arrived at the next world.

_(Change of scene)_

"I wonder who lives here..." Sakura murmured.

"Some one who's rotting in dough. Maybe a relative of yours, Ken," Ranma murmured.

"Maybe it's your mama," Ken replied with half of a smile on his face.

"Oh, 'yo mama' fight!" Adrian exclaimed cheerfully. "Yo mama's so old that when she was in school, there was no history class!"

"Someone please shut up that prick before he gets us into trouble," Baiken grumbled, making the vampire laugh, obviously. "I don't like this place."

"It does look a bit eerie..." I admitted.

We were standing on the entrance of an enormous castle. We had landed just past its main gate. Everywhere I looked, there were gargoyles staring at us with stone eyes. The walls were made out of dark rocks, just as black as the night. We couldn't see through the windows; it looked as if there was not a single light inside the castle. Its design was old – gothic, of course. The perfect place for the Heartless to dwell, we all figured.

"I don't like the look of this either," Donald murmured.

"We will have to be careful. Yet let us stop wasting our time here. We must make haste and start destroying the darkness within this place," Octavius said.

"Just a thought... but maybe they could be setting an ambush?" I guessed. "It is the front door..."

"Isn't that a bit negative, Sora?" Akane asked.

"Realistic, people! Remember that Murphy is always right," Adrian said.

"I agree with Adrian and Sora," Wilheim added. "It would be best if we found out another entrance.

"Okay, let's do that," Ukyo pressed.

We all turned our backs at the immense door. However, before we were able to start our search for another entrance, I suddenly felt how a hand landed on my shoulder. I hadn't even heard footsteps behind me. I was so startled that I leapt in fright, yet was unable to shout. And then, a voice spoke to my ear...

"My, my... you have certainly turned into quite a handsome young man."

I then felt a rush of relief and happiness as I instantly recognized the voice. I turned back and came face to face with Camille. And boy, if Jam was driving me nuts with her subtle, coquettish attitude, Camille would make me explode. Of course, I didn't think about that at that moment. I was just really happy to see my friend.

"What are you doing here??" I laughed aloud and hugged her.

"Waiting for you, brave Keyblade bearer," the succubus laughed, the lustful tone in her voice gone. "It has been so long, Sora... You have grown so much!"

"Camille!!" my buddies yelled joyfully as they approached us.

"My favorite succubus!" Felicia purred.

"Hello, everyone," she greeted and started to hug everyone. "It has been a while... you look so changed... Wilheim, my darling!" she giggled and gave a warm embrace to her oldest friend. "I am so happy to see you! Time has treated you kindly... You have grown even more beautiful."

"Then we have that in common, my dear Camille," Will replied cheerfully.

"Still here, Camille," Ukyo intervened with a smile.

"Oh, Ukyo; I have missed you so much," she said and they hugged. "Your splendor has grown as well... Truly Wilheim and you are made for one another."

"Hey, she can talk like that about Wilheim and you don't punch her lights out?" Jam intervened. By the tone of her voice, we all noticed she was kidding.

But this time Jam wasn't ready for what was coming to her. Heck, I think none of us were...

"Oh... my, my..." Camille said and her voice turned into a sensuous murmur. "A new face among us, I see. And quite a beautiful face it is... Exquisite."

"...Huh??" Jam gasped, turning white as a ghost.

And then, the unimaginable happened. Baiken gave out a loud snort and hid her face behind her hand as she started to laugh her head off. To think that, back at the Gummi ship, I had stated that I had never seen her laugh. She walked behind Wilheim and Ukyo and tried really hard to contain her snickers, yet unable to do so. Her pupils soon found themselves laughing along with her... Baiken's face, turned red from so much laughter, was truly a rare sight. I think Adrian was the most startled one of us.

"Absolutely lovely," Camille went on as she... dangerously approached Jam and placed her hand on her shoulder. "It is easy to see why men have so much desire for you. I can feel my heart burning already."

"W-what??" Jam stuttered. "N-no, I..." she backed away and gulped down hard. "I... l-listen, I..."

Much to Baiken's disappointment, I think, Ukyo decided to save Jam's butt.

"Camille, this is Jam Kuradoberi. She's with us. And she thinks men are cute," she explained, unable to contain a few giggles.

"R-right!" Jam said in a nearly inaudible, high-pitched squeal.

"Men like the K-Keyblade m-master!" Adrian laughed.

I turned to him with a surprised, furious glance, urging him to shut up. Of course, he only laughed further. Thankfully Jam was still too stunned to pay attention...

"Ah, that is a shame," Camille said. "Perhaps with a little persuasion... but only time will tell." I'd tell you about the expressions all of us men had plastered on our faces... but maybe you'd start thinking lowly about us. "Ah, but I see she is not the only rose you have brought along," she added as she noticed Baiken. The woman finally managed to control her laughter and cleared her throat as she stepped forth to greet Camille. And here I thought she would remain hidden behind Wilheim... "What marvelous beauty... Strong and fearless... A seductive stare arises from your powerful face... Captivating the beating of my heart..."

"Save it, sister. You and I are on different teams," the woman replied very calmly. "I'm Baiken. Nice to meet you," she added, offering her hand. It was the first time any of us had heard her say those four last words put together, I believe.

"Oh, but we are also on the same team. Am I right, boys?" the succubus said, winking at us.

"Engaged, engaged, engaged, engaged..." Ken repeated to himself in a low voice.

"Suit yourselves... although Adrian does seem especially pleased, of all people..."

"Of course I am! I'm starving!!" the vampire said, licking his lips and patting his stomach. "It's free blood for Adrian!"

"Oh, dear... I always forget you are too mad to fall in my games," Camille giggled.

"I'm not mad!!"

"As mad as a goat," Wilheim and Ukyo quickly said, making us all laugh.

"If it is not too much to ask, perhaps we could start exploring the place?" Octavius intervened, out of patience, as always. It's sad to say this, but he was truly an expert party-pooper. "I can sense there are Heartless nearby, and my sword craves for a taste of their blood – I have no use for idle, stupid conversations."

"AHHH!! Idle conversations!!" Adrian yelled.

"I will not tolerate your idiotic interventions again, bloodsucker."

"Hey, you're stuck with me. And I'm not going to shut up! Anyone want me to shut up?" Of course, someone had an answer to that...

"I want to sew your lips together," Baiken hastened to reply.

"I'm not scared of you!" the vampire chuckled loudly. Clearly, though he liked to piss both her and Octavius off, he actually liked Baiken... "I'm invincible!"

"Camille, how about you get us out of here before things take a turn for the worse?" I murmured upon seeing how the one-armed woman was slowly losing her mind because of our crazy friend...

"Of course," Camille answered, quickly noticing the situation. "Come now. But be wary: there are Heartless nearby. No doubt they will attack us soon... Yet I have merry news for you: Demean, Tish, and Merryck are here, too."

"Oh, thank God!!" Ken immediately exclaimed.

"Hey, we're all happy, Ken, but don't overreact," Sakura chuckled joyfully.

"It's just that, with Camille and Tish, we've finally gathered the crowd-control team," he said, turning to the smiling succubus. "You have no idea what we've been trough... I missed you both so much!"

"I am only happy to see my friends again," Wilheim said. "Their capacity to stop meaningless fights is irrelevant to me."

"Take us to meet them, Camille," Ukyo requested enthusiastically.

The succubus nodded and led us into the castle. The place was enormous. There were many columns on the sides, holding the structure in place. There were many carpets and pictures about, but the gray tone about us was the one that prevailed. To our left and right were wooden doors and before us, were two large stair cases: one led to the left, the other to the right. Somehow, the passage on the left seemed to cast shadows upon the walls and floor. It was quite strange... as if darkness was emanating from that place. We all decided not to say anything about the matter and to let Camille do the talking. Surely she already knew the place up and down and would quickly take us to meet our good friends.

"Follow me," Camille said.

"This castle is so different from yours, Camille..." Wilheim murmured. "The stone composing the walls seems so... lifeless. Your sapphire home is much more welcoming."

"I feel the same, even if I do say so myself. Yet you must know that this castle belongs to an ally of ours: someone that helped us deal with the Heartless in the past."

"Really? Who?" I asked.

"The Beast," she answered, to our surprise. "Surely you remember him? He lent us his strength in Hollow Bastion."

"How can anyone forget that guy?" I laughed. "He's even bigger than Octavius."

"Do not get so merry yet, Sora, for I have more to say..." she paused for a moment and stopped on her tracks. She looked at her surroundings with suspicious eyes for a few moments. That alone got me to raise my guard and the rest of my friends did the same. It was a good thing we did... "The Heartless are coming."

From the walls and the ceiling and from behind the columns, our enemies appeared. It was actually quite a large army. There were a lot of types of foes: big, small, thin, fat... and a few I had never seen before. They were clad in green armor and had a very big lance. They looked like the illustration of a knight you see in a text book for you history class... Of course, these guys were a bit different. For starters, they weren't too tall (they were barely bigger than Donald); plus, they didn't have a face – only the characteristic pair of yellow eyes that distinguished the Heartless.

Obviously, now I wasn't the least worried. The reason was simple: we weren't flying ships anymore.

"Finally, some hand-to-hand combat!" Baiken jeered.

The Heartless immediately charged against us. Backs to one another, we held our ground and fought the fiends.

Thankfully, we had only suspended our ground battles for less than two weeks. We weren't rusty at all... on the contrary. We were rested. And I can bet that the Heartless were truly sorry they had crossed us. Because not only were we all in prime shape... We wanted to beat the living crap out of our enemies with our bare hands for what they had done in Phillon. Time for some retribution.

Camille fought just as mercilessly as I remembered. Her wings turned into dozens of sharp tentacles that went through their preys like hot needles through thin ice. Those that got to her tasted her fists and kicks. Her strength was comparable to that of Ranma or Ryoga, but she was a lot faster. The more aggressive Heartless were no match for her, either. If one of them tried to hit her, she simply retracted her deadly needles and used her wings to fly at the castle's ceiling as she held the foe in her arms. Once she had reached the highest spot, she dived into the ground at full speed, slamming the Heartless' head into the rocky floor. Perhaps our succubus wasn't as graceful a fighter as Morrigan, but what she lacked in finesse, she made up in brutality.

Speaking about brutal, Baiken and Ukyo seemed to be full of rage and were dishing it out like nobody's business. The training on the ship hadn't sufficed them, I think... they needed more space to move around. Now they had it. The woman sliced though her enemies with the ferocity of a tigress. I think I have good eyes, because I did manage to see the steel of her katana a few times. She was so fast that the foes that stood up against her could just see a flick of her wrist and before they knew it, they had lost their heads. But wait: Ukyo was even faster. Everyone could see her weapon, of course, yet when she swung it, it turned into a blur that cut through everything and everyone that stood in her path. Baiken had really taught her well: I was now dead scared of her, too. Even so, her sensei was still stronger and could destroy her foes with fewer attacks.

And yeah, let's not forget the third side of this triangle... Wilheim's attacks were a bit slow, in contrast to those of Baiken, and had an almost turtle-like speed in comparison to Ukyo's blows. But he could hit! It was a good thing he wasn't near the columns when the Heartless got to him, because with the attacks he dished out, he could've easily brought them down. Even the fat, armored Heartless were cut in two by his furious sword in the blink of an eye. Besides, it wasn't like Will needed to be very fast to evade his opponents' blows: he could withstand them very well. He was a freaking rock.

Ranma, Ryoga, Akane, and Sakura fought very close to one another, as usual. They did a great job covering each other's backs. And they sure knew how to make a mess of things... Ryoga recurred to his Breaking Point technique quite a few times, which left the floor in horrible shape... But that wasn't too important, 'cause he got rid of the Heartless. Ranma pinned more than one against the walls and hit them with his speedy fists, breaking them in seconds... as well as the wall. For their part, Akane and Sakura used whatever they could find to defend themselves. They could turn a small rug into a deadly asphyxiating tool, or a candlestick into an improvised dagger... They didn't seem to have any limits.

Adrian was, as usual, goofing around with his opponents. Always pretending that he didn't know what the hell he was doing, always beating the Heartless to a pulp in a matter of seconds. He could very well be amongst the fastest of us if he wished so, but I guess he preferred to laugh it up, unlike Siegfried, who was giving the fight everything he had. Since he was the only one of us who didn't have... powers, so to speak, to aid him in battle, he always relied on his wits and mental tricks to get him out of trouble. That alone turned him into a superb fighter – and he barely got hit by the fiends...

Ryu and Ken, as always, made a great team. Back in the Coliseum, I had noticed Ken was a little bit rusty. But now, it was all in the past. He was as fierce a fighter as I had always remembered him and how much he liked to show that off. He liked to ridicule his enemies by faking his attacks and then unleashing fiery blows, always with a mocking laugh. Ryu was much more serious than his pal; he didn't waste any of his attacks. And while there were some similarities between Ryu, Ken, and Wilheim, each one clearly stood out for something in particular: Ken was the most aggressive, Ryu had the best technique, and Wilheim was a freaking rhino.

Felicia and Jam fought side by side. They were, by far, the fastest fighters on the field of battle – I mean, inside the castle. The cat-woman was, on top of being speedy, as agile as a mountain leopard. There wasn't a safe spot for the Heartless to hide: every part of the castle Hall was Felicia's territory. Some flying enemies appeared and had begun to attack us from the air with magical blasts, not daring to come down. Felicia got to them even before Camille did and hacked at them with the might of a tigress. Jam... oh, boy, she looked HOT even while fighting... Um, I mean... Ah, forget it.

Well, let's say she was a bit more limited than Felicia in terms of space, but her blows were almost as savage as Baiken's. If she managed to land her fist on a Heartless, she was sure to connect at least another seven punches or kicks (if her victim lived that long, of course). I soon noticed that Ukyo's style had changed a bit and resembled Jam's in some ways... I guess she was taking the training seriously. Still, I think the more experienced woman's attacks were stronger.

Leon and Octavius had no problems whatsoever. The were-bear had always been the strongest one of us, yet he wasn't showing off his strength as blatantly as Wilheim. I think he had more control over it... well, perhaps not, but he topped our good friend in experience terms, so he had learned when to use his full power and when to use just enough to get rid of a pesky Heartless. He barely broke anything around him... however, those that challenged him fell with one hit. He almost didn't use his katana, for that matter: his fists sufficed just fine. Leon, on the other hand, relied on both his blade and his magical attacks to fend off the foes. He wasn't showing any mercy... I suppose he was also a bit angry and wanted to vent as much as he could.

As for Donald, Goofy, and I... well, perhaps it would be a bit cocky of me to say that we were the best team out there. Maybe we weren't... but, man! We rocked! Alongside Siegfried, we were untouchable. If a Heartless targeted us, Donald fried him with a lightning spell. If he got past his magic, Siegfried and Goofy would gang up on him; my older friend would cut him to pieces with his blade while the brave knight would bang him with his shield in ways one would've thought impossible. And if the poor idiot survived, then he would have to face the Keyblade.

As the fight went on, I started to feel a bit strange... Power began to rush through my body once again. I felt dizzy for an instant and before I could let out a yelp, I knew that it would happen again: my clothes were going to make me change.

"Whoa!!" I cried as I felt the rush of energy fill me.

"All right! You've got two Keyblades again!" Goofy cheered.

My shirt and pants had acquired a red tone once more and I was holding a second sword on my left hand. Some of our friends were quite astonished to see me like that; but rather than trying to figure out what had happened, we all realized that questions would best be saved for later.

Taking advantage of the momentary power, I threw myself against the Heartless, spinning both blades as quickly as I could, tearing my enemies apart by the dozen. A couple of those new Heartless I told you about charged at me, aiming to stab my chest with their lances. I parried their blows with one blade and quickly hit them with the other, launching them into the air. I jumped after them and hit them more times than I care to remember. What I do recall, though, was that I attempted to finish them both with a lunging attack to the ground; and when I hit the floor with the Keyblades, a wave of energy spread around me, knocking back some of the nearby Heartless and killing a few of them outright. Anyway, while this blow protected me from other enemies, it didn't do squat to the knights... because I had already killed them.

It's difficult to describe what that power felt like... I was thinking about comparing it with a sugar rush – but that's just stupid. I guess you could say that it was like feeling a hot current of air inside your body, pumping your muscles up with every move you took, and with each attack you threw out, you could feel a current of electricity running through your limbs. I mean, it wasn't at all painful: it was just... weird. Whatever the case, it turned me almost as powerful as some of my other friends and helped us get rid of the Heartless in much less time...

Yet, when the shadows vanished, my power left me and I started to feel just like someone always does after the sugar rush, only ten times worse. My head spun like crazy and I had to sit down to keep the world from taking me on a roller coaster ride. It was a really nasty sensation...

"Are you okay, Sora?" Ukyo quickly questioned as she and Wilheim ran to my side.

"I'm okay, Ukyo... don't worry about me," I mumbled leaned my head against the column behind me. "They did it again..."

"What do you mean, Sora?" Wilheim asked.

"This isn't the first time this happens," Leon explained. "It's the third time he's gone through this change."

"It was as if you exploded with power," Ryu said. "I don't think I've felt such strength within you before. Not even in the Underworld were you that strong."

"Yeah... it's a shame I'm not much good after a while," I sighed.

"Yup: the K-K-Keyblade master becomes as defenseless as he always is against Jam's charms!" Adrian exclaimed and the royal jerk made damn sure Jam heard him this time.

"S-S-Shut up, Adrian!!" I squealed. I immediately felt how my face started to blush... right about the time most of my friends started to chuckle. "It isn't f-funny!" I stuttered. I'm trying to think if there was another moment in my life where I had felt more embarrassed... Quite frankly, I can't recall anything.

With a giggle, Jam knelt beside me and put her hand on my shoulder. It seemed she had forgotten all about Camille's earlier innuendo. But as for me, I couldn't even bring myself to look at her...

"It's all right, handsome. No need to be ashamed of anything," she said tenderly and kissed my cheek. Yeah, yeah, yeah; she was being patronizing. But in all honesty, I didn't care the least. I think that, if Baiken wouldn't have intervened, I would've certainly let out an idiotic chuckle, which would have only made me look more like a fool.

"Well, that transformation seems useful, but like your hormones, you're going to have to learn to control it," the woman said. I guess she didn't help much either... And Adrian, of course, was unable to shut his yap and burst into laughter. Luckily, Baiken still couldn't stand him. "That was not an invitation for you to laugh, asshole, so shut up!" she groused.

"AAHH!! I'M BEING REPRESSED!!"

"I'm not going through this again," Felicia intervened, quickly grabbing Adrian's ear and pulling him away from Baiken. "You, sir, get back in your corner."

"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" he whined. "Hey, you'll have to bribe me. If you want me to behave, then—"

"Camille's problem now, not mine," the cat-woman interrupted. "I'm done bribing. Besides, you never keep your end of the deal! From now on, I'll just scratch you if you start acting up."

"Beware: you could make a powerful enemy!" he joked.

"How about we get a move on before more Heartless attack us?" Ryu said.

"Agreed," Ukyo said and quickly helped me to my feet. I still felt a bit woozy, so she helped me walk for a while.

"Let us make haste. Our friends are in the East wing. I am sure they will be most pleased to see you," Camille declared.

We nodded and kept walking silently, hoping that the Heartless wouldn't attack very soon. I was still feeling weak. I mean, I was recovering, but very slowly. It would take about... ten more minutes to be on shape again. Of course, an army of Heartless could pulverize me in ten seconds if I was unable to fight back.

The castle was really huge. We went through at least three more large corridors before finally getting to the room our friends were in. I really didn't pay much more attention to our surroundings, since Ukyo was practically dragging my butt and I didn't feel like looking around. Either way, I think that I recovered all my strength the moment Camille opened the room's door and saw our three good friends.

"Hello!" Merryck exclaimed happily and raced to greet us. "I knew you would show up sooner or later!"

"Merryck, how are you doing??" I laughed and hugged him.

"Bless me! It seems it's been ages since we last saw each other, Sora. You've fully outgrown me! Truly, you have always been a tad taller than me, but now—"

"Merryck, I think he understands your words," Demean interrupted and approached us with a warm smile. "I had longed for this day to come, my friends."

"Always a pleasure to see you, my good elf," Wilheim chuckled.

"Tish, you had no idea how much we've missed you," Ken said as he gently held the little fairy and let her kiss his cheek.

"While I most certainly missed all of you too, your relief is puzzling..." Tish giggled.

"In a few words, we—" but before Ken could explain himself, he noticed that there were two more women in the room.

The first one we knew. She was Belle: the Princess of Heart that Beast had gone to rescue at Hollow Bastion. She seemed very pleased to see us and hadn't changed at all. But the second girl was unknown to us.

She was a bit shorter than me. Finally people would stop teasing me about my height!... Jeez, as if I didn't know them. Anyway, that's off the point. She wore a black tank-top, khaki mini-jeans with a brown belt and a pair of pouches tied around her waist and black sneakers on her feet. Two fingerless gloves adorned her hands and reached up to her elbows. She had a diamond ring... I guessed she was engaged to someone. That could be a sensitive subject, so I knew I would have to watch my tongue. Again, I digress...

On her right arm, she wore two bracelets, a pink one and a purple one. She had a diamond-shaped key-pendant around her neck... fancy that. Her skin was roughly the same color as Ukyo's, that is, very light. She had dark brown hair with reddish-brown highlights which fell right on her shoulders. Her eyes were of the same color. She was truly very beautiful... I have to say, I had been meeting really cute girls lately, namely my friends, of course. And for once, we all saw Leon become a bit nervous... It seemed that he was very attracted to this girl.

"Hi... Belle, right?" Felicia asked as she approached the two women, turning to the one she had met before.

"Yes, that's right," the lady answered, with a smile. "I'm glad you're all here... We've all been waiting for you. It's good to see you again."

"We're glad to see you too again, Belle," Donald said. "And don't worry: we'll fix your problem pretty soon. The Heartless-busters are here."

"Hi. My name's Sora. And you are...?" I murmured, walking toward the girl in a friendly fashion.

"Oh, I'm Catherine," she replied timidly. "Catherine Chunyin Chen. It's nice to meet you, Keyblade master."

"Ah, you've heard about me," I chuckled.

"Yeah: Demean, Tish, and Merryck have told me a lot about you guys. I was looking forward to meeting you."

"Catherine has helped us defend the castle," Demean declared. "She is a formidable warrior."

"That's great news... And, as you can see guys, we've also gathered some fighters, too," Ryu added. "These are Jam and Baiken."

"How do you do, ladies? Charmed: my name is Merryck Goldengrass. I'm sure we'll get along just fine," the hobbit merrily said, vowing his head.

"It is freezing outside... Have you not felt the chill? Perhaps we could find you some cozy pants..." Tish offered Jam. Somehow, I felt that all this would lead to Adrian teasing me again...

"...No, that's okay. I'm fine," Jam answered, somewhat puzzled. Normally, I reckon, she would've gotten mad. But seeing as the fairy had meant her words and had no hidden intentions, she was polite.

"And besides, the K-K-Keyblade master needs an incentive to keep on going!" the vampire intervened. God, I hate being right all the time.

"Someone make him stop!" I groused as Demean and Merryck chuckled along. Before I could say another word, Ukyo held me and put her hand on my mouth, while Felicia punched Adrian in the arm, causing him to whine with fake moans.

"Sorry about that," my friend apologized. "Though it may be a frightening thought at first, don't worry: you'll get used to us, eventually."

"Oh... okay, if you say so," Catherine giggled timidly.

"Again, we waste time with meaningless chatter," Octavius grumbled. This time I was glad he put an end to the conversation. "We must hunt down the Heartless. We must find the keyhole so that Sora may seal it, and put a stop to their invasion here."

"Well, we need to find something to show us the way to it," Goofy mumbled.

"But... what about Beast?" Belle shyly asked.

"Oh, oh, right!" I stuttered. Clearing my throat, I took a step forward and asked: "So, what's wrong with him?"

"I'm not sure... He... He just hasn't been himself lately," the woman sighed. "He's become so obsessed with a strange rose which he keeps in his room. He hasn't let me in his room for a while now... And he always used to. He didn't mind..."

"No offense intended, sister, but, could you get to the point?" Baiken pressed.

"Oh...!" Belle muttered and stuttered inaudible stuff for a bit before getting back on track. I noticed Tish was about to tell the woman something, yet then she glanced at Wilheim and Ukyo: both of them were silently signaling her to keep it down for the time being. "Well, the rose... I'm not sure what it is, or what it means to him... He's become so aggressive and so territorial of late that he even locked up his servants in a dungeon."

"He, what?" I blurted.

"Exactly! Something must be terribly wrong with him..."

"Maybe he could be possessed or brainwashed," Catherine intervened. This caused Belle to take a deep breath and sit down on the bed in the room, covering her face with one hand. "I didn't mean to say it just like that... Sorry, Belle."

"We believe that his servants might be able to put the pieces of this puzzle together and because of that he has locked them up," Camille said.

"Question: why are they still locked up?" Adrian suddenly asked. We turned to where he was supposed to be standing, but he was no longer there. Guess where he had gone to... "I mean, why haven't you gotten them out?"

"I hate it when you start walking about the ceiling, crazy _Vampyr_," Demean sighed, while shaking his head with a soft smile. "Do you honestly think we have not tried to do that?"

"Okay... so, then, let's hear it."

"We have been looking for the dungeon, but we have been unsuccessful so far," Tish explained. "Wherever he is keeping his servants, it is a well-hidden place."

"We have searched the castle up and down, and we haven't found a clue," Merryck said. "We have even tried to search in Beast's room, whenever he is not around (which is something that rarely happens). We have to be very careful when doing this also, because, as Miss Belle has stated, he is very jealous of this rose. It is almost as if he and the flower are connected: we cannot get near it, or else he will show up, not the least bit happy. Well, not that he has been jolly all this time. Hence our problem and—"

"Merryck, come back," Camille interrupted with a tender chuckle.

"Ah, yes; I beg your pardon. Well, I suppose you understand our plight."

"Okay... In that case, I guess that our first goal is to search the castle and try to find this dungeon," I said. "I'm a bit worried that you guys haven't been able to find it, though..."

"There are more of us this time, so our chances of finding the dungeon will increase drastically," Demean said with a cheery voice.

"But someone has to stay behind and watch over Belle," Catherine interrupted. "We can't leave her alone with the Heartless."

"Yes; so far, Catherine and I have been taking turns on this assignment. I reckon it is time someone else stayed," Camille added.

"Well, I have no problem in staying," Akane said. "Ranma and I could watch over her. Right, Ranma?"

"I guess..." Ranma sighed, not precisely enthused about the idea of remaining in a single room. Akane gave him one of her glares, urging him to watch his mouth. Our friend rolled his eyes and sighed even louder as he said: "I'd be happy to."

"I'm glad you're convinced, Ranma," Ryoga chuckled.

"Shut up."

"Don't be too troubled, Mr. Ranma. I reckon we will find the dungeon very soon, now that Ms. Felicia and Mr. Octavius are here," Merryck optimistically said. "You can't deny she has the best hearing of us all."

"And best smell sense," the cat-woman added proudly.

"Well, then I suggest we get going," I said. "I suppose it wouldn't be wise to run into Beast, huh?"

"Not the least," Demean answered. "It will be best if we avoid crossing paths with him. Yet if it is inevitable, then we will have to be wary."

"You actually think he might try to hurt us?" Goofy asked.

"He is not himself, Goofy," Tish replied. "I know it is hard to realize this, yet you must trust our words. For now, keep your distance from him and be ready for anything... For I fear that the Heartless and Beast may not be our only opponents."

"What do you mean?" Ryu questioned.

"Well... perhaps we are mistaken... but lately, we have seen cloaked men running about, hiding in the shadows, and disappearing from our sight before we can get to them. We do not think they are Heartless, for they do not attack us, nor do they bear the emblem of the enemy anywhere on their bodies."

"I see Organization XIII made it here, too," I sighed. "Well, let's go, guys. I'll explain the details about those idiots on the way."

"Don't worry, Belle: you're in good hands," Sakura assured as she opened the room's door. "Well be back in a jiffy."

Demean, Tish, Merryck, and Catherine made no more questions and chose to follow us with silently for the time being. Akane and a reluctant Ranma remained by Belle's side as we exited the chamber. I just hoped we would find that keyhole soon. More than that, though, I hoped we would find one of the Organization XIII's dorks so we could question him a bit. If we were fortunate, we would run into Kyuxo or one of the guys we had seen in the Coliseum. I had too many questions that needed answering...

_(Change of scene)_

We broke up into two groups. Catherine, Camille, Baiken, Felicia, Siegfried, Wilheim, Ukyo, Donald, and Goofy tagged along with me, while Demean, Tish, and Merryck showed the rest of our friends to another portion of the castle. We were well on our guard... I think I was especially edgy, because I knew that, at any moment, one of the Organization XIII clowns could attack us without warning. To hell with the Heartless: we were more than enough to rip them to shreds... But those other fools made me nervous. Oh, and let's not forget that, sadly, we also had to be on the lookout for Beast.

We were walking quietly through the castle... until Wilheim grabbed a curtain and unworriedly tore it apart, making quite a lot of noise.

"Wilheim!" Ukyo scolded. "What are you doing?"

"Searching..." he calmly replied. "Well, the way I look at it, the Heartless know we are in the castle and, most likely, so does Organization XIII. I am on my guard: but I believe that there is no point in so much secrecy."

He had a very good point. We all looked at each other and realized he was right. With a shrug, we continued our search without being too careful about making loud sounds.

"You know what this reminds me of?" I said to Donald. "About the time when you, Ukyo, and I were searching for the keyhole in Traverse Town..."

"Ah, yeah, I remember that, too," Donald replied with a nod. "Let's hope that we do find something now. Good thing we have Felicia now."

"And good thing we're not looking for a keyhole," the cat-woman intervened. "The only one who was really, really effective at finding those things was the Heartless-radar."

"Yeah..." we murmured, turning a bit grim, because we knew that sooner or later, we would have to face... the Heartless-radar.

"So you all go back a long time, huh?" Catherine asked.

"Not really, but we are really good friends, right, guys?" I said.

"Oh, yes... Well, I suppose Wilheim and I could be an exception: I have known him for fifteen years," Camille said.

"And I've known him for over thirty, so I win," Siegfried chuckled.

"Thirty years? Wow... you guys sure look a lot younger," Catherine murmured.

"There is an explanation for that," Wilheim said. "But we will talk about that later. Why don't you tell us about yourself, Catherine?"

"Oh... well, I—" she paused for an instant, as she turned her head back, as if she had heard something. We all remained still and on our guards. "Sorry... I suppose I am a bit paranoid as of late," she mumbled shyly. "Well, I was once a member of the Soul Valkyries... I don't suppose either of you has ever heard about that organization."

"Nope, never heard of it," Goofy confirmed.

"Me neither," Donald quacked.

"Guess the same goes for the rest of us," I supposed.

"Well, it's a female-only organization. We are taught many fighting skills and some magic spells. To sum things up, we're warriors."

"That's suitable," Siegfried said. "Well, it's just that, in the world we come from, Valkyries were mythical creatures... from Norse mythology, actually. They were the ones who—"

"Chose who lived and who died in a battle," Catherine completed with a smile. "Yeah, that's right... I guess you, Camille, and I come from the same world, then... Same as... sorry; what was your name, again?"

"Wilheim, Catherine," our friend replied as the girl gazed at him.

"Wilheim..." she mused. "That sounds familiar..."

"Hey, Catherine... No offense, but, female-only?" Felicia interrupted impishly. "Where's the fun in that?" she giggled.

"Believe it or not, I thought the same thing," the Valkyrie laughed. "You see, one of the rules that the organization has – and they are very strict about it – is that Soul Valkyries cannot fall in love with any man."

"And, of course, you fell in love with one, didn't you?" the cat-woman meowed.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Oh, yes," Camille giggled. "So much that I did not have to look into your heart to figure it out."

"You can look into peoples' hearts?" Baiken questioned. Though she was a bit far from the rest of us and she, Ukyo, Wilheim, and Siegfried were the ones who had been searching more diligently, she had been listening to every word of the conversation.

"Only when their desire is so great that they cannot possibly conceal it or when they are in much pain..." the succubus replied. "And, speaking of which, I sense much sadness in your heart, Ukyo."

Baiken sighed in relief. I think she was expecting Camille to say her name, but when she mentioned our younger friend, she turned away and kept searching.

"I... I'm not sure I want to talk about it right now," Ukyo sighed.

"My dear, you do not have to speak. But I do know that you long for comfort and friendly words," the woman said softly, putting a caring hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah... I guess..." she mumbled. "We recently lost a lot of friends. I'm still grieving. It's natural."

"Oh... I'm very sorry to hear that..." Catherine said with her hand on her chest.

"We all are, dear," Camille assured. "Do not hesitate to speak if you need to. We are all here for you."

"Thanks, Camille..."

"Ukyo...?" Wilheim muttered, turning to her with a concerned glance. It was almost as if he felt guilty about the way she felt. Don't know why... He didn't do anything wrong, in my opinion. Then again, I wasn't dating Ukyo.

"Wilheim... It's okay. Come here," she said with a tern smile and open arms. They hugged and she kissed him on the cheek lovingly. "I'll be okay, guys. I already told you. I have the right to be feeling blue; yet I promise it won't be forever."

"I hate to see her like that," I whispered Donald.

"She's tough: quit worrying. You'll just get on her nerves... And if you do that, you can get strangled," he replied.

"I'm not a duck," I chuckled. "Guess I'm free of that problem."

"Ukyo, if you need some cheering up, perhaps you should reconsider accepting my offer," Camille said and her tone turned... irresistible.

"Your offer? What off—? No. No, no, no!" Ukyo said, raising her voice and finding her laugh once again and walking away from her.

"I assure you, it will be well worth your time... not to mention that it would make your beloved the happiest man alive."

I don't know when that offer was made, yet I immediately knew what it had been...

"We're doing well by ourselves, thank you very much! Isn't that right, honey?"

"Absolutely," Wilheim immediately agreed. If he had taken longer than half of a second to speak, he would've been in big trouble. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Camille, but Ukyo and I have eyes only for each other."

"It is not you who I have to convince, darling," Camille chuckled.

"I bet you had to endure this quite a lot, huh, Catherine?" Felicia meowed.

"So much that I got used to it after roughly three days," the Valkyrie laughed.

I don't know if Camille has the power to mess with peoples' minds when they're awake... But somehow, I suddenly had a very quick vision of her and Ukyo. And what was worse, I was looking at my friend when my, as Felicia and Baiken would say, teenage mind started to bug me. I turned bright red and quickly looked away. What was wrong with me? It was all Jam's fault... she started it.

And, obviously, Ukyo noticed my stupid glance.

"Okay: Sora; you and Siegfried better stop looking at me like that, or I'm going to beat both of you to a pulp," she threatened. I became redder and searched farther away from her while Donald and Goofy, like always, chuckled at me. Well, at least I wasn't the only one who was menaced.

"I'm going to get you guys someday..." I grumbled.

"Even if it's the last thing you do?" Donald mocked.

"It's beginning to get too easy, Sora... Come on, give us a challenge!" Goofy added.

"Ha-ha, very funny."

While I had become Goofy and Donald's laughing stock again, Siegfried was trying to talk his way out of trouble.

"Come on, sister-in-law; it's not our fault that you and Camille are so beautiful and—"

"Siegfried, you are only digging your own grave and you are even tempting me to be your burier," Wilheim interrupted.

"Wow... I never thought that you'd be the one saying to me 'keep your eyes off my woman', Wilheim," he joked. I'm not sure he should've said that, because I think that he didn't make his brother or Ukyo smile.

But before he got his butt handed to him, Baiken, who had been searching a little farther away than before (naturally), turned to us and said:

"If you're done fucking around, perhaps you'd be kind enough to explain this."

We had been so busy talking nonsense that we hadn't noticed that we had gotten to a room full of armors. All of them stood by silently, guarding a corridor with a red carpet. There were stairs which led, no doubt, to Beast's room. I guessed we didn't exactly want to go there for the time being... However, that wasn't what had caught Baiken's attention. The woman was pointing at a white, tall wardrobe that stood at the very end of the corridor, near the stony wall.

"...It's a wardrobe, so what?" Donald quacked.

"You're an idiot..." Baiken groused, rolling her eyes. "Yes, it's a wardrobe. That's precisely my point: what's that piece of shit doing out here?"

"Oh... I hadn't thought about it that way..." I mumbled shyly as Donald gulped and chuckled nervously.

"The wardrobe... Well... to tell the truth, we have still to search that little area..." Catherine confessed.

"Really? You missed the fucking wardrobe?" Baiken snarled. "You're shitting me. I thought that thing was new. You're a magical warrior... Does that mean that you only know how to fight and cast spells? Is that, like, 'your thing'? Is it like, the car's running, but there's nobody behind the wheel?"

"...I'd appreciate it if you cut back on the insults," the Valkyrie politely requested.

"We have not looked into it, for we had not deemed it important," Camille intervened.

"...Why not?" the angry woman asked, doing her best to contain her irritation.

"Because, whenever we search this place, the Heartless appear on the floor above," she explained, pointing at the stairs. "As if they are guarding something... Perhaps the wardrobe will prove that there is something else of importance other than the dungeon."

"...Okay, I'll buy that. Let's get this over with," Baiken sighed. I was surprised that Camille had managed to calm her down. "I still don't believe that you never thought about investigating that thing."

"They went for what seemed to be the most logical place," Ukyo said. "We would've probably made the same mistake."

"...Yeah, I guess you're right, kiddo."

While stubborn as a mule, she knew to accept when she was wrong... mostly if Ukyo pointed it out.

The wardrobe was in the middle of a big wall. There were no columns nearby or armors. It was quite actually the perfect place to put a discrete door.

Before Baiken started grumbling again, I decided to act rapidly. I put my blade away for a moment and pushed the wardrobe to the right. And, just like that, we found a door that neither Camille nor Catherine had seen before.

"It's amazing it was right in front of us the whole time..." said the Valkyrie.

"Well, then let's get moving," Donald said. "The castle's servants must be down there."

But just as he reached for the knob, a loud voice startled us and made us turn right with our hands on the hilts of our weapons.

"What's the meaning of this?" It had been a woman's voice with a French accent.

"Show yourself!" Siegfried demanded.

"I am right in front of you, silly boy!" called the voice again.

It had been the wardrobe. I swear I wasn't hallucinating... As we looked at it, we realized it had grown a mouth and eyes. I've seen a lot of things in my adventures. For starters, Donald and Goofy; who would've imagined I would have a talking duck and a... dog (I'm still not sure what Goofy is and I don't have the courage to ask) for best friends? Then, there had been Phil. Ariel; the vampires in London; Jon Talbain... you name it. But talking furniture? I could've sworn my only experience of the sort would be limited to the Doorknob in Alice's world. I was genuinely surprised. And to think that this was just the tip of the iceberg...

"Yikes!!" Felicia meowed in a high-pitched voice.

"Would you please stop staring at me and tell me what's going on?" the wardrobe demanded.

"Your talking is what's going on!" Baiken exclaimed, exasperated, and sheathed her katana. "Seriously: traveling with you guys has been the longest mind-fuck I've had in my entire life... I need a drink." She reached her liquor bottle and had a big gulp of... Tequila, I think.

"Um, excuse us..." Siegfried mumbled. "It's just that... We're not used to this sort of thing."

"It's quite evident..." the wardrobe snorted, seemingly offended by our one-handed wonder.

"Belle told us about this," Camille murmured. "We do not mean any harm. We are only searching for the rest of the servants... Your friends, I take it."

"Oh! Yes! I'm so glad you're here!" the piece of furniture exclaimed, her attitude changing completely. "The Master keeps them in the dungeon... He put me here to hide this door. I didn't want to move... We're all too scared of him!"

"So that's the door to the dungeon?" I asked.

"I think so... I am sorry if I startled you. I wasn't always like this, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"I was once human. Like the rest of the servants... We were all human. That was until the enchantress came along..."

"What enchantress?" we questioned.

"The enchantress that placed this curse on the castle, turning all of us into all sorts of things and the Prince into a hideous Beast..."

"The Prince?!" I exclaimed.

"The Prince is Beast?!" Donald quacked.

"Beast is a prince?!" Goofy cried.

"Well, he certainly has not lived up to his reputation," Catherine said. "I think I'll keep referring to him as Beast..."

"But... how did it happen, anyway?" I asked.

"Well, it all started on a cold night..." the wardrobe began.

"And...?"

"And I'll tell you the rest after you rescue my friends. That way, you'll have something to look up to."

"Oh! We'll get a story as a reward for our troubles! Praise the freaking heavens!!" Baiken growled. Boy, she was a lot madder than usual... And I actually was interested in the story. "To hell with this," she added, kicking the door open and promptly disappearing behind it.

"You will have to excuse our excitable friend, _Madame_," Wilheim apologized. "She means well; yet she has always had the... tact of an elephant."

"Oh, you don't have to apologize, dear," she chuckled. "It's of no importance. As long as you get my friends out of their dreadful prison."

"Do not doubt that."

"Yeah, don't worry," I added. "We'll help 'em out. You've got my word."

"Thank you..."

As we tried to catch up with Baiken through the dark passage, Catherine turned to us and whispered:

"Not to offend you, guys, but your friend should really watch her mouth and her temper."

"She's not a bad person," Siegfried said. "She's just annoying."

"That may be right, but do not be so quick to judge her for her actions without knowing the feelings in her heart," Camille intervened. "Sadness and anger stir inside of her in ways you cannot possibly imagine."

"Wow... I guess Maici's death also affected her a lot," I murmured. "I guess we should cut her some slack."

"Indeed," the succubus said.

When we finally reached our – as Will so elegantly put it – "excitable friend", she was standing still in front of a large door which had two stony shapes coming out of it. They seemed to be holding something with their hands in the center of the door. They looked like Heartless. Big, round eyes, jagged mouth, tough bodies... I quickly unsheathed my Keyblade, expecting them to come to live at any moment.

"Do you think this is the dungeon's door?" Donald asked.

"I'm betting it is," Ukyo said. "I sure don't like those things."

"Do you suppose the Beast is on the Heartless' side now?" Goofy mumbled with dread in his voice.

"I should not think so," Camille replied. "Yet let us leave the assumptions for later. For now, let us make our way through these creatures."

"Do you think that they'll even move?" Siegfried whispered.

"Well, if they don't move, it'll be much easier to cut them down," Baiken said and with a quick flick of her wrist stabbed one of the creatures with her katana.

Awakened, the monster began to move. The creatures' bodies were covered in shadows and their eyes started to glow with that eerie, yellow color, trademark of the Heartless. They growled and took a swipe at the woman, who easily avoided them by stepping back. Yet this foe wasn't the only one in the room: there were many other statues about and we had only just noticed them. The Heartless took on the forms of stony gargoyles, rocky bats, and soulless knights. Man, had we been careless... I felt like a complete idiot.

"Oh, this is great..." Siegfried grumbled. "We should've known!"

"Kid, I was already expecting this; I'm surprised you weren't," Baiken said, fiercely grabbing the hilt of her blade.

"You shouldn't have knocked...!" Felicia hissed and sharpened her claws.

"This was bound to happen. Enough talk! Let us tear them apart!!" Wilheim shouted and raced against the gargoyle closest to him. Before the fiend could strike, the warrior charged at him with his shoulder, hiding Renamark from his sight. The Heartless stumbled back upon receiving the tackle. Wilheim spun on his feet and then let his sword's steel cut through his enemy like a hot knife through butter. With his foe cut in two and slowly crumbling into nothingness, our friend hid his blade behind his back again and returned to our side.

We formed a circle in the middle of the room, backs to one another, and waited for the enemies to come at us. The Heartless hesitated for a bit. I take it that they thought twice about attacking us after seeing Wilheim's display of power. Naturally, however, the idiots chose not to quit. Oh, well, sucks to be them, I guessed.

But things weren't as easy as I had expected. For starters, I quickly swung my Keyblade at one of the fiends that came after me. My weapon bounced off it, barely making a scratch on its stony skin. The Heartless grinned evilly and raised its axe over its head.

"Oh, crud..." I muttered and rolled aside just as the steel from his weapon fell on to the ground. After watching Wilheim slice that foe with such effortlessness, I had forgotten they were made of rock and that my blade isn't capable of mowing it down as easily as Renamark. I would have to hit that guy a bunch of times... or find a way to delve the Keyblade into its evil essence.

Most of my friends soon found themselves in the same predicament. We are all strong, but breaking a pile of rock is no piece of cake. Plus, the stupid Heartless carved into the door also started to attack us by shooting dark projectiles from his hands. Of course, we couldn't get to him that easily anymore, because a bunch of Heartless had gotten in the way...

"What now...?" murmured a thoughtful Goofy. It was good to see he wasn't the least worried.

"We break them down, that's the plan!" Donald quacked.

More Heartless appeared from the ground and the walls. They all, in a surprisingly smart strategy, lined up to face Wilheim, who was seemingly the biggest threat the stone-fiends were facing. Yeah, that was an intelligent thing to do... However, the Heartless...

"Heh, they keep underestimating us," Baiken jeered. "Don't think Wilheim's the only one of us who can break a rock! See for yourselves!" She raised her foot high in the air and brought it down with terrible strength. "TATAMI GAESHI!!"

The ground broke into pieces that flew up into the air, launching one of the gargoyles high, making it an easy target for our savage friend. She leapt after it and started to hit with her spiky club (I still don't know how she can fit so many things up her sleeve... and where can she grab them from?). The enemy still seemed to be in one piece. Yet then, Baiken revealed a potent cannon and fired it against her foe, causing it to fly back against a wall and dropping its weapon upon impact. Even after this brutal combination of attacks, the Heartless didn't shatter. Only one of his arms fell.

The rest of the enemies stopped just staring at us and charged against us. I leapt over the gargoyles and tried to stab one from behind hard. I only managed to push it away, but didn't do very much damage. And, before I could attack again, a trio of bugs leapt at my back. The little idiots scratched my body over and over again. They didn't hurt me too much, but it was a bit painful. To shake them off, I swung the Keyblade around me and created a small wall of flames which toasted the Heartless in an instant. I had to leap away from the gargoyle, since it attacked me before I could put myself on guard properly.

Goofy slammed the stony-fiend nearest to him with his shield, forcing it to leap back. Then, he began to spin on one of his feet and aimed his weapon at every Heartless that got near him. That got him off a lot of trouble. Then, Donald destroyed the stunned enemies with a lightning blast. However, the gargoyle fiends remained intact.

In an attempt to break one of the rocky foes and damage the Heartless' leader at the same time, Camille used her needles to grab one and then threw it against the door with all her strength. Amazingly, she did manage to shatter the foe's head, effectively killing it instantly... but the Heartless on the door didn't even seem like it was tickled by the attack.

Felicia concentrated on the more agile Heartless. Most of these guys were flyers. However, that didn't stop our friend from reaching them and knocking them to the ground with a well-placed swipe of her claws. Once they had their feet (or backs) on the floor, she rushed at them and went through them. Nevertheless, she stayed away from the gargoyles. She knew she would probably only break her claws if she tried to attack them.

Siegfried also kept his distance from the gargoyles. Out of all of us, he was the only one that didn't have any sort of power, and he knew very well which battles to fight. He knew the bugs' patterns by heart and killed them without breaking a sweat. That didn't mean he couldn't take on the newer enemies we had faced: he had also learned their fighting styles and capitalized on their weaknesses. For instance, one knight tried to stab him with its lance by driving it through his stomach. Siegfried pushed the weapon aside with his shield, took a hold of the lance and yanked it from the knight, using its own momentum to his advantage. Afterwards, he drove his sword through his defenseless body.

As for Catherine, she was now wielding a spear with a black handle and a blue tip. She handled it perfectly and impaled every enemy that came at her with very little effort. As for the rocky Heartless, she kept them at bay by shooting bolts of energy from the tip of her weapon. This didn't destroy them, but it pushed them away with great ease. Like she had mentioned earlier, she also knew how to cast magical spells and recurred to them very intelligently. What's more: seeing as the Heartless were having a hard time getting to her, she decided to help out Donald and Goofy without lowering her guard or losing sight of her opponents. Quite simply, she waited for Donald to unleash a magical spell and hastily cast the exact same type of magic on the exact same spot, thus making it twice as strong. If Donald threw a fireball, Catherine quickly turned it into a ball of destruction that burned every enemy on its way to a crisp. And finally, she also had the ability to glide, which allowed her to move a lot more freely across the battlefield. Not that she moved a lot, though: she mostly remained close to us, always making sure that we were all right and we didn't need aid. She was doing a remarkable job.

Baiken and Ukyo fought closely together. They quickly eliminated the puny Heartless that got near them in a flash. Also, they were actually trying to bring down those pesky gargoyles. Ukyo beat their heads over and over again with blinding speed. The enemies were far too slow for her and didn't pack enough strength on their attacks. Because of that, she could easily parry as well as evade their blows and place herself behind them. Even so, she was barely making cracks on their hard skulls. Baiken got a little farther than her pupil, but not by much.

Even though we hadn't even scratched the Heartless on the door, the idiots were barely hurting us. However, unlike us, the bastards weren't getting the least tired. We had to hurry and end this...

"This isn't working!" Felicia exclaimed as she slew one of the knights with a swipe to the neck.

"There has to be a way to break them!" Donald said.

"Try more spells!" Ukyo yelled. "There has to be one that ought to work!"

"Someone should better start attacking the door!" Siegfried called.

"But it's heavily guarded by those stone-jerks..." I murmured to myself. "I know... Will! Try to clear the way for me!"

"I would gladly do that, but I need someone to keep the rest of these fiends away from me!" he replied.

"Come on, kid, let's help out your boyfriend," Baiken told Ukyo. With a swift movement, the woman released her long chain and trapped one of the gargoyles. She quickly yanked it at her and got ready to cut him in half with her katana. However, before she did that, Ukyo stood in the way and hit the Heartless with all her strength, sending it across the battlefield, causing it to crash against the enemies surrounding Wilheim. Not only did she shatter the stony foe completely, but she also killed almost all of the Heartless around Will. Those who survived were too stunned by the blow and lowered their guards. Wilheim took advantage of this and hastily slew them. "...We should've done that for starters," Baiken murmured with a grin as she glanced at Ukyo, who quickly returned the smile and went back to fighting.

Since Wilheim had been freed of most of his burden, I decided I could fight alongside him. I leapt on the heads of a few Heartless and reached him just as he was beheading one of the gargoyles. There were still a whole bunch of them for us. My friend charged at the fiends with a wide swing of his blade, forcing them to jump back. I leapt at them and attacked, aiming the Keyblade at their heads. The Heartless managed to parry some of my blows, yet even those that hit the mark didn't hurt them much. However, I distracted them long enough for Wilheim to press on his offensive. Two gargoyles' heads instantly fell as Renamark cut through their necks.

I kept distracting the rest of the idiots, though I wanted to be more than just a diversion. Suddenly, though, I unexpectedly became a lot more useful to Willie. One of the Heartless tried to cut me in half with its axe. I parried the blow fiercely, forcing it to raise its arms. As it reeled back, I noticed a strange glimpse right below its nose. Instinctively, I pointed my Keyblade at it and shot a beam of light. The enemy became still and, a second later, its dark essence left its rock body and the statue crumbled. I knew they had a weak point!

"Yeah! Take that! Who's next?!" I challenged.

"Great job, Sora," Wilheim said. "But you should concentrate on the door. I will take care of these foes myself."

"But there are still a lot of them!" I protested.

"We'll help him out, Sora!" Donald quacked. "Take that, bozos!" he cried and cast a fire spell on the Heartless nearest to Will. The fiend started to turn bright red, yet it refused to crumble. Donald and Goofy weren't intimidated as it turned to face them. They raised their guards, ready to take on the enemy.

"Of course!!" Catherine suddenly exclaimed. "Shoot! Why didn't think of this before?" Without further delay, she glided at the burning hot Heartless and attacked with an icy incantation. The cold air even made me shiver...

"Hey! Whose side are you on?!" Donald grumbled.

"I understand now!" Wilheim growled. The Heartless was now smoking; its hot, rocky body had melted the ice that had momentarily trapped it. It was then that I remembered something I had been taught in Physics class... My professor had heated up a piece of glass and, afterwards, he had poured some cold water on it... The result?

Wilheim took a step toward the fiend and threw a mighty punch at its base. It broke as if it was made of rotting wood... "Great thinking, Catherine! Help me destroy the rest of these imbeciles!"

"Now we can all have a go at them!" Siegfried exclaimed as he stood his ground in front of a gargoyle and patiently waited for Catherine or Donald to screw them up.

Seeing as how Catherine had found out yet another weak point of those creatures, I guessed it was time to listen to Wilheim and start to attack the door (do you realize how weird that sounds?). Now there were no Heartless standing between me and that foe... they all had their hands full with the rest of my friends. Now that the duck and the Valkyrie knew how to completely weaken the gargoyles, Camille could kill up to five at a time with her dark needles. The Heartless carved on the gate, though, were still on one piece. That had to change...

I unleashed the first attack upon the Heartless, hoping to see some reaction that would allow me to find its weak point. But, amazingly, my sword went through the fiend quite easily. Nothing slowed down my blow and the enemy was hurt. At last, a foe that was very vulnerable against the Keyblade! Man, we were in luck... I was now certain that this would be over quite soon. I kept on attacking and the Heartless took more and more damage. It desperately tried to fend me off by shooting blasts of dark energy against me and attempting to swipe my face off with its claws. I skillfully dodged every one of its attacks and countered with quick slashes. Surely, I would finish the fiend with little trouble.

Since everything was going so well, I had an idea. Perhaps this would be a fine opportunity to try my powers... All I had to do was wake them up. I took some steps back and focused my energy... But to where? I really didn't have the least idea of what to do. I didn't know how the heck I had turned them on in the first place! It had just happened... Oh, well. I figured it wouldn't take me that long to find out and so I kept gathering energy.

The Heartless attacked by throwing another black bolt at me. I sidestepped and went back to fill my body with strength.

* Where should I focus this energy? * I thought. * What was I doing right then, when my clothes changed color? Focusing power on the Keyblade...? No... I've done that like a hundred times and nothing of the sort happens... * the enemy fired two more waves of energy. The second one nearly hit me... * Do I divert the power to my clothes? That sounds logical... But, how the heck do I do it? *

"Sora, watch out!" Siegfried cried as he leapt at knight with a lance which had sneaked up behind me. They rolled over the ground for a few seconds. Then, Siegfried remained on top and thrust his sword into the Heartless' head. "Come on, finish this already!" he pressed.

"I'm almost done!" I replied and kept gathering strength. I had a lot of energy now and could unleash it in any way I wanted: a potent fiery blast, a freezing gale, a terrible blow... Yet I chose to save it. I had to figure out a way to unleash it with my clothes' magic.

The Heartless fired against me yet again. Three blasts flew at me and this time, I was unable to avoid the last. It hit me right on the chest, sending me back against a wall, knocking my breath out. At least I hadn't suffered any fatal wounds. I had focused my power far too much and that had softened the blow. Still, it took me a few moments to find the strength to get up and try to gather more energy. But the Heartless were starting to amass...

"Stop losing time!" Siegfried repeated, as he stood in front of me and fended off a group of knights that had charged against me.

I found a way through the horde of enemies and stood in front of the leader. I had to do it: I had to use my power to transform, and quick. But right then, a group of gargoyles approached me.

"Dang it..." I grumbled. Those idiots wouldn't let me focus...

"I will hold them off!" Wilheim roared and charged against the entire group of stony warriors. He managed to push them right beside the knights Siegfried was attacking and then, together, they kept the foes off me. "Hurry and destroy it, Sora!"

But despite his efforts, I had been cut off from the leader again. A group of bugs, flying foes, and magical Heartless appeared before me. The little mages covered their bodies with eerie winds, which were strong enough to repel my magic spells; the larger sorcerers attacked with blasts that send me flying across the room and into one of the walls again. I knew right then that I had messed up big time...

"Donald, help me take care of their leader!" Catherine called. With a nod, the duck joined the Valkyrie. Ukyo and Baiken made way for them so they would face the main Heartless, while Camille, Felicia, and Goofy came to my aid. The knight stood in front of me and clobbered any enemy that dared get close with his shield, while the cat-woman and the succubus shredded the rest of the enemies to pieces.

"Your spear isn't doing any good!" Donald observed as our newest friend struck the Heartless repeatedly while avoiding its blows.

"Then let's take care of it like we did with the gargoyles," she suggested. "Only that we'll have to do the exact same thing... Let's boil it up!"

With that said, both of them cast their strongest fire spell on the fiend, while taking a step back to avoid getting burned to a crisp. The Heartless tried to reach them with its claws, but both the magician and the Valkyrie were too far away now.

"Now, freeze it!" Catherine cried and they conjured a glacial wind which changed the Heartless skin from a bright red color to a pale blue one.

"Break it!" Donald quacked.

Catherine quickly glided at the fiend and, with a mighty trust, broke the body of the enemy into pieces. Yet, even though the pair of foes had been destroyed, it wasn't over. The dark essence that had created those Heartless on the door in the first place became palpable in the form of a dark orb that began to float all over the room. All of my friends tried to bring it down, but every one of their attacks went through it like vapor. Even Renamark's fire made no difference.

"Your turn, Sora!" Felicia said. "Cut it down!"

I quickly got up from the ground and leapt over the Heartless' heads. To hell with focusing my energy: that fight had to end right now. I could see all my friends were dead tired and wouldn't last much longer against the endless onslaughts of fiends. I reached the black orb and slashed it with a powerful blow. The dark essence was split in two and then vanished into thin air. As I landed, I slipped and fell flat on my butt. Luckily, the Heartless disappeared along with their leader. We had finally managed to destroy those idiots...

Even though we had been victorious, it had been a close call. And the sad part about it was that it didn't necessarily have to be that way. And, of course, the first person who capitalized on it was... Dang, like I even have to tell you.

"What the fuck was that??" Baiken roared, turning to me. "Why the heck did you freeze all of a sudden? Did you shit yourself? Or were you contemplating the meaning of life in the worst possible fucking moment??" she demanded, approaching me. All I could do was to gulp and try not to look at her in the eye; she was really menacing.

Fortunately, though I more than deserved a scolding, not all my friends thought it had to be so stern. Ukyo hastily put herself on Baiken's way and said: "Let me handle this."

"Let you handle—? Were you even watching??" she snarled.

"I was watching and that's why I'm asking you: let me handle it."

"But—!"

"Baiken, please..." the girl appealed.

After a moment of remaining silent, the woman let out a final growl and rolled her eye as she gestured Ukyo to go on ahead.

"Thanks," my friend murmured and faced me. She walked right beside me and knelt. "Sora, honey..." she began. Even though I was no longer being yelled at, I still felt pretty embarrassed... "What happened?"

"I-I..." I stuttered. "I was t-trying to change i-into... y-you know... I tried to focus my p-power to t-transform..."

"You tried to focus your power to transform," she said with me. "Okay... It's good that you're trying to increase your power, sugar. That's a really good thing. But you have to know when's the right time to do so, okay?" As she said this, the rest of my friends nodded their heads. Baiken more so than the others and even waved with her arm upwards, as Ukyo had taken the words from her mouth... Only she had sugar-coated them... "Right now, we had the fight. We were doing great... You were doing great. Yet it's not a good idea to try out new things that you aren't sure are going to work during such crucial moments if you can pull off another move that you're sure it's going to do the trick. You could've been killed for that mistake... And I would be devastated, Sora." She paused and put her hand on my shoulder. "Don't go doing those things again... You just make the battle harder—"

"That's exactly it!" Baiken interrupted. Siegfried stood in front of her as she walked at me again.

"Ukyo's taking care of it..." he murmured.

"It's okay, Siegfried, I got it," she said and gently pushed him aside. She stood before me and took a deep breath before talking. However, she seemed much calmer now. "Look, kid, you can't go pulling this sort of crap. If you want to learn how to transform, I'm cool with it – but learn it when we're not fighting for our lives. Granted – we were kicking their butts like there was no tomorrow. However, that's no reason for you to be overconfident. Those sons of bitches will kill you if you mess up even for a second. Don't toy with your luck, kid: we need you to take care of those dirt-bags for us. You're the only one who can give them the one-way ticket to hell."

Ukyo's expression softened as the woman finished saying these words. I guess none of us were expecting her to be as reasonable as she did. Anyway, now that they had effectively given me the heads-up, I sighed, somewhat relieved, and nodded.

"Okay... I won't try to do that sort of stuff again," I declared. "I'm sorry I messed up, guys..."

"It's okay, Sora. As long as you're not hurt," Goofy cheerfully replied.

"That's what's really important," Catherine added. "Just try not to get into trouble again. Either way, we all look out after one another, right?"

"Right, Catherine," Ukyo answered as she smiled at me and messed with my hair a bit and I allowed myself a restful chuckle. She rose to her feet and offered me a helping hand. "Up you go, sugar."

"Well, seems like the door's open," Felicia observed. "Let's see how are the servants doing, shall we?"

We all nodded and headed to the door. My friends walked past by me and they all patted my back, letting me know they forgave me. I really appreciated the detail... and last but not least, Camille caught up with me and whispered in my ear: "Be not afraid, young Keyblade master. I will always look after you..."

I shivered at her sensual tone and let out a nervous giggle as she walked away while giving me a tempting glance. I forced myself to regain my cool and went after my friends without losing more time.

The door led to a small, square room that had nothing more than a few chairs, a stack of hay, and some peculiar objects. There was a white tea-pot; a little, chipped white cup; a wooden clock, and a candelabra. Seeing as how there were no men or women in that room, we figured some of those things had to be the servants.

"We're here to help you," Goofy said aloud. "Belle sent us to free you... Anyone there?"

"Belle sent you?" the voice of a kind woman answered. As if on cue, the tea-pot suddenly grew eyes and a mouth and jumped down from the chair she was on. Then, the cup did the same, as the clock and the candelabra, and they all quickly bounced to meet us.

"And the mind-fuck continues..." Baiken murmured in a low voice, with a loud sigh and then got on her knees, with the rest of us, so we could all have a better view of the prisoners. Fortunately, none of them heard her.

"Wow..." Donald mumbled as he took a step forth and picked up the clock. "Cool..." he said while he curiously began to toy with it.

"I say..." the object replied, somewhat confused by our friend's inquisitiveness. "I say, sir! I can wind myself up, thank you very much!" Yet Donald kept playing with him for a while.

"So Lady Belle sent you all?" the candelabra asked. "Well, _mes amis_, we're very glad you all made it here! My name is Lumière; delighted to meet you," he added, as he put out the flame on his... hands, and delicately held Ukyo's hand and kissed it. "Ah, it seems that this castle attracts beauties such as yourself and your friends, _chéri_."

"Well... it's a pleasure to meet you, _monsieur _Lumière," Ukyo giggled. She then turned to Wilheim and said: "How come you never speak to me in French?"

"Well, you had never asked before, _mon amour_," our friend replied with a smile, making Ukyo giggle sweetly again.

"My name's Sora," I intervened. "We're here to get you and your friends out of here."

"That's a relief... Thank you, dear," the tea-pot said. "My name is Mrs. Potts. This here is my son, Chip."

"Hello, everyone," the cup greeted with the voice of a little boy.

"And that one over there is our friend, Cogsworth..." Lumière muttered while pointing at the clock, who was still unfortunate enough to be the object of Donald's curiosity.

"Sir! Sir!" he called, to no avail. "Sir, please...! I would more than appreciate it if..." He stopped and sneezed as the duck toyed with his minute and hour hands. "Put me down this instant!" he demanded at last.

"Donald, give him a rest," Siegfried chuckled.

"Aw, okay..." our friend sighed and did as he was told, much to Cogsworth's relief.

"So I guess all of you were humans, too," Goofy said.

"Ah, _oui_... It has been such a long time," Lumière replied.

"How did it happen?" I questioned.

"Well, it was a cold winter's night and suddenly, someone knocked on the gate," Mrs. Potts said. "There was an old woman, a rather... unattractive beggar, who pleaded the Master to allow her to spend the night here. All she could offer him was a rose in exchange for his generosity..."

"A rose...!" I murmured and glanced at my friends. They too had become really surprised to hear this.

"But the Master turned her away," Lumière continued. "The old woman warned him not to be deceived by appearances... Yet the Prince refused to take her in... And..." he stopped and sighed, allowing Cogsworth to conclude the story.

"The woman then turned into a beautiful enchantress. Because of his selfishness and his cold heart, she chanted a curse on the Master – turning him into a Beast... a form which suited his manners. The entire castle was cursed, us included, of course... The Master beseeched the enchantress to remove the curse, asking for forgiveness, but she refused... And that's what happened..."

"Well, if it's a curse, maybe one of our friends can remove it," I supposed. "Do you think any of you can do it?" I questioned Donald and Catherine.

"What? I don't know much about curses...!" the duck quacked.

"I don't think it's that simple, Sora," the Valkyrie sighed.

"Alas! It is not," Lumière sighed. "The spell can only be broken if the Master learns to love and to be loved before the last petal of the rose he keeps in his room – the very same rose the enchantress offered him that fateful night – falls."

"...And if he fails?" Siegfried asked.

"He will remain a Beast forever," Cogsworth murmured gloomily. "And now, the moment of redemption seems unreachable... The Master is not himself! It's as if is... Under some sort of spell..."

"Well, we've got two suspects," I said. "It's either the Heartless or the Nobodies. I say we go talk to him and find out what's going on."

"What if he doesn't want to talk?" Goofy asked.

"Well... I guess we can beat some sense into him," I replied, scratching my head. I really hoped that wouldn't be the case.

"It would be best if you helped us with this endeavor," Wilheim told the servants. "Who here is closest to him?"

"Cogsworth is the Prince's most loyal subject," Lumière said. "He worships the ground the Master sets foot on."

"Quiet, Lumière," the clock proudly retorted, crossing his arms and turning away.

"The rest of you go hide somewhere safe," Ukyo said. "It's time we left... We have to check on our friends."

"Then follow us, _mes amis_," said the candelabra. "There is a secret passageway nearby which will allow us to go past the Heartless... We will need your help to move forth. Come on, no time to lose!" He and the others quickly bounced to a locked door, which Wilheim opened with a kick, and then we all stepped inside the secret passageway...


	16. Chapter 15: Taming the Beast

Hey, everyone.

This time I think I set a new record... I'm sorry about not posting earlier. This time, though, I've had some personal problems to deal with. That, coupled with work, made my life really difficult lately. Hopefully, things will get better. In the mean time, bear with me, please.

Also, two of my friends and I have been making some video game review videos lately and that's eaten a lot of my time. So that's another thing going on.

Well, once again, Adrián Araya helped me in the making of this chapter. Thanks for the stories :)

I hope you all enjoy. Until then, later!

_Chapter F__ifteen: Taming the Beast_

_Narrator: Adrian_

Ah! It's been such a long time since you last came! Please! Sit down and have a drink. It will be my pleasure to tell you how I got my scar. That is, of course, why you've come here, right? No – no need to talk. You don't have to be ashamed: lots of people want to know how I got it and I've always been glad to tell them. So, come closer and listen good...

See, I used to be a cobbler. Naturally, I worked with all sorts of sharp objects... Anyway, it all started with my father. He was a cobbler as well, and always put all his heart into his work. When I was young, I had always wanted to be a soldier. It was my grandest dream. But my dad wasn't too enthused about this. He always used to tell me: "Listen, son. Being a soldier is a good thing, no doubt: but we cobblers are kings... Let me tell you why: even soldiers need footwear. Everyone uses footwear, no matter what. This is why everyone needs us, my dear boy. This is why we are the most important men in the world." I wasn't too convinced at the beginning. But one day, while I was playing with my friends, pretending I was a soldier, I realized that my father was right... A soldier is useless unless he has shoes on. In the end, I decided to live up to his dream and became a cobbler myself. Ah, yes... shoes became my life.

...What? Oh! The scar! Yeah, I got that when a chicken fell on my head. Its beak cut me. Don't know where the damn thing came from...

Huh? You don't believe me? Well, whatever. I don't have to take anything from you. I trained Achilles, you know!

Oh? You came here to listen to the other story...? Rats. My bad... Well, let's move on, then...

We had been roaming through the castle for a while and hadn't found anything yet. It was beginning to get somewhat boring, because no one had attacked us so far. Besides, everyone was quiet. And there was no Baiken... If she would've been there, we would've had a lot of fun. I mean, to me, she was pure gold. Teasing Leon and Ken was fun; messing with Wilheim's head was a good pastime; toying around with Demean and Tish made me laugh a lot... But driving Baiken mad had become more than that. It was a new reason to live. I know this makes me sound like a douche, but, you weren't there to see her! How can someone get so mad at a goof like me? I never even insulted her... she was way too easy. And it wasn't the same as pissing off Octavius, because, although it was fun all the same, the were-bear hated me for the wrong reasons. Well, it was his loss... And, finally, Sora wasn't with us, either. I would've more than settled with him, especially since Jam was keeping us company. Sora had always been an easy prey: but with that woman on our team, he had become twice as vulnerable... I love being invincible.

Whatever the case, at that moment, I had to keep my goofs to myself. Everyone was very quiet and very serious. Octavius was serious... Wait, that's redundant. Never mind him, no one likes him... Sakura was serious; Jam was serious; Demean and Tish were serious... that meant no room for jokes. If the little fairy got mad... I'd have to behave like a coward and use the elf as a shield, or something.

So far, we had no clue as to where Beast's servants were being kept. At least there were ten of us: one of us ought to find something, not to mention that there was another group looking for that place as well. It was only a matter of time. But I wanted to find the dungeon quickly for two reasons: one, I didn't want to be forced into a dark place because of the sunrise; and two, because I knew there would be someone guarding it and I wanted to fight someone. I was about to die out of boredom. At least Camille had given me a bit of blood before this unexciting search...

We had searched the entire eastern part of the castle. We had practically lifted every piece of furniture, hoping to find a trap door or something of the like. It had been utter failure so far. This Beast character sure knew how to keep something secret... I was surprised that not even Demean and Tish had found anything. A thousand years of life must grant you some experience in the art of... searching... Yes, it's an art! Anyone who thinks otherwise is a heretic!

Ahem... Anyway, we were beginning to get tired of not finding anything... Mostly, we were tired of being quiet.

"Do you think our friends will have better luck?" Ryu asked.

"If they don't, we're going to be stuck here for a long while," Ryoga sighed. "What got into Beast? I mean, he was always cold, but I never thought he would be capable of doing something as mean as locking up his servants... Or behaving like a jackass with Belle."

"Yeah, that surprises me a lot," Sakura agreed.

"Guys, do you think that he'll pose a danger if we come across him?" Ken questioned Demean, Tish, and Merryck.

"That is an unfortunate possibility," Tish replied. "We have seen him a few times and he has not addressed us in the friendliest fashion. More than that, he has growled to us. And he does not reply to our inquiries about his behavior."

"It has been rather dreadful, actually," commented the hobbit. "I fear that if we run into him again, he might want to do more than just threaten us with his growls..."

"I would not worry too much," Demean said. "I am certain that our friends can suppress him should he try to attack. I reckon all of them have augmented their powers since we last met; and though I do not know Baiken, she seems to be a most competent warrior."

"What about Catherine?" Leon quickly asked. "Do you think she's going to be all right?"

A-ha! An opening!

"Are you worried about her?" I immediately questioned. "Do you want to go to her and start drooling over her? And go like Sora with Jam and say... 'Valkyries are cute... I love you'??"

"You just couldn't contain yourself, could you?" Ken laughed, as the rest of my friends, except Leon and, of course, Octavius... but no one likes him, so who cares?

"I'm only curious about our new companion's skills," Leon argued, but I saw his face: he blushed!

"YOU'RE BLUSHING!!" I yelled. "You love her!! My God, you're drooling! You're a pervert! I don't even want to read your mind. I bet I'd only see a sign of: 'Please wait: downloading Valkyrie pic—'"

"I'm not drooling," Leon interrupted, turning away.

"I'm only joking!!" I said. "Jeez, you're all SO sensitive! If it's not you who's whining, it's Felicia; and if it's not her, it's Sora!"

"Dude, Sora's fifteen," Sakura intervened. "And you ridiculed him in front of Jam."

"It's not my fault the kid's hormones are through the roof!"

"Yeah, but, try to cut him some slack," Jam said with a smile.

"Oh, whom are you kidding? You love seeing him like an idiot!"

"Yeah, but I don't think it's very nice for him." Ah, so she did like to be a flirt! Well, that mini-skirt of hers didn't leave too much work for anyone's imagination, so that was sort of obvious...

"Oh, ho, ho, I'm going to make his life miserable!" I laughed.

"Come on, Adrian, stop picking on Sora," Ryoga said. "Go back to Leon: I'm sure he can endure it better."

"Thanks, Ryoga," the man grumbled and I laughed even more.

"Okay, I'll cut it down for a bit..." I said, doing my best to regain my cool after so much laughter. "But you did blush, Leon, no matter what you say. I'm going to hold you to that."

"...She reminds me of someone I know," Leon answered in a low voice.

"Okay, okay..." I muttered with a final smile.

I decided that I would only mess with him when Catherine was not around. The situation with Sora and Jam was something else completely different: she loved to be a flirt and Sora was in love with another girl. I just teased him for the heck of it, knowing I wouldn't cause any real harm. But I didn't know the Valkyrie, and who knows what sort of emotions stirred inside Leon... I know I like to piss people off, but only as long as I don't hurt their feelings... that would make me an authentic douche.

"Anyway, you never answered my question, Demean," Leon said after a while.

"Blame the vampire," the elf answered.

"Why me? You're the one who was supposed to answer. Come on, answer!" I said.

"...What?" Demean muttered.

"You heard me: answer Leon's question!"

"...Who?" I knew where this was going... Unfortunately, I took the bait.

"Leon, dang it!"

"...What?"

"The question, answer it!!"

"...What are you talking about?"

"AHHHH!!" I yelled.

"Wow... I didn't know that was possible... you actually exasperated him!" Sakura said with a giggle.

"After two-hundred years of knowing him, I have found out some... 'holes in his defenses', if you will," the elf chuckled.

"'Holes in his defenses'..." I mimicked with a shrill voice. "Answer the stupid question."

"Do not worry about Catherine, Leon," he finally said. "Like we said before, she is a splendid warrior. Be at ease."

"Better start contemplating our own fates," Octavius suddenly murmured and unsheathed his blade. "I can smell you, fiend! Show yourself!"

We were standing in front of a stair case and apparently, the were-bear had sniffed an enemy at the top of it. Though he's a pain, Octavius has sharper senses than most of us. I took out my scythe and readied my blade as the rest of my companions put themselves on guard. And then, a cloaked figure came into view. He had been hiding behind one of the castle's pillars.

"Get down here, runt. It is time you crossed swords with us," the were-bear growled.

"Hey, take it easy. It's not like I have done anything to piss you off... yet," he answered and took off his hood. I knew I had heard that voice before.

"Gixadia," Leon grumbled.

"Hey, you guys remembered! I'm flattered," the foe chuckled. "So... Sora isn't with you, right...? Can't see him anywhere."

"Have you met this creature before?" Tish whispered.

"We saw him in the Underworld for the first time," Leon said. "He's an Organization XIII bastard."

"There you go again, calling me names, getting all uppity and hostile," Gixadia sighed. "Seriously, people: you've got to learn the value of diplomacy."

"That's funny, coming from someone who doesn't have any feelings," Ryoga said. "As if you could get offended."

"Ryoga, please calm down..." Merryck murmured. "It would be best that we didn't jump to conclusions right away."

"Okay: it seems like you people need to vent. No worries: I'll grant you the favor. After all, my boys are feeling playful today. Perhaps afterwards we can have a civilized chat." He clacked his fingers and out of nowhere, twenty enemies appeared...

"...All right, now is a good time to jump to a conclusion," the hobbit gasped.

These guys were unlike anything we had seen before. They were monsters with three pairs of steel wings. One pair on their back, another which replaced their arms and a third one where the ears were supposed to be... Hmm, yummy. Their heads had the crest of the Nobodies – half a hart with a spiked cross – on them. That was it. No eyes, no nose... to some things up, no face. They made their name justice, all right. They looked like platinum mannequins. And none of us could see what their torsos were like, because they constantly covered them with their wings. Frankly, I wasn't very interested in finding out.

The Nobodies began their attack. They all started to spin like blenders and charged against us. Those wings looked like they could cut through rock without much trouble, so we had to be very careful. Most of us didn't have much problem in repelling them with our weapons, but our unarmed friends had to dodge these loons as best as they could. For his part, Ryoga hid Sakura behind him and used his Explosion Point technique to create some confusion amongst the foes.

Fortunately, we all escaped this onslaught with all our limbs in place. Once the fiends stopped spinning, we seized the moment to counterattack. Tish quickly cast an electricity spell upon Demean's daggers, who quickly unleashed a flurry of slashes upon the Nobodies nearest to him. The elf was obviously expecting the fiends to shield themselves with their wings, and he guessed correctly. The enemies withstood the punishment quite well, but it did seem like our friend hurt them a lot with his attacks. Eventually, one of them lost his "arms", yet it quickly used another pair of wings to cover its chest. It was more than obvious that that was its weak point. The rest of us began to attack the wings guarding the chest as well...

Leon started his attack by repelling most of the Nobodies around himself with fire blasts. Then, he raced to the one nearest to him and attacked with his sword. The Nobody, as expected, covered its chest with its wings. Only that our friend had a bit more trouble than the elf in breaking them, since no spell was cast upon his blade. Eventually, he forced his opponent to retreat and got attacked by another group.

While Merryck still lacked Demean's experience, he was a wonderful warrior. It had been a while since I had seen him in action, but it was more than obvious that he had been practicing. He was extremely agile and could parry the blows of his opponents without much difficulty... mostly because it's very hard to hit someone who's one-third of your size. He effortlessly evaded the Nobodies' blows by running under them and staying low to the ground, which made him almost impossible to hit.

Out of all of us, Octavius was the one who had the least problems. He was pretty slow in all of his movements, but he practically shattered his opponent's wings with just three attacks. He was really brutal. Well, at least he was good for something... Anyway, it was not long before the Nobodies started to fly away from him in hopes of surviving his brutal attacks. The were-bear quickly changed his strategy and, instead of taking down an entire pair of wings, he aimed to take just one wing out of each pair so the foes wouldn't be able to fly away...

The rest of my friends were in bigger problems, since they were fighting with their bare hands. Well, this quickly ceased to be Ryoga's case, because he unsheathed his steel umbrella and used it to fend off the Nobodies' blows. But Sakura had things a bit more complicated. Ryu and Ken were incredibly strong (I knew firsthand, because I had fought Ryu in the past... he gave me my scar, you know. Okay, okay: THAT one is a joke. But the story about the chicken is true, I swear...! Ahem, enough...), and as for Jam, perhaps she didn't hit as fiercely as the other two, but she could score three times more punches and kicks than them. Long story short, they could manage to beat their enemies. Yet our youngest friend could only fight one of them at the time. If two attacked her, she would be in huge trouble. That's where I came in...

I did my best to keep the Nobodies off the warriors without weapons. Though Ryoga did his best to protect Sakura, some of those bastards got past him, so it was Adrian to the rescue. Most of them got away when I met them: they flew away from me and regrouped. Then, they flew above my head and began to drop feathers. You would think they would throw them like deadly, sharp darts. Well, yeah, they did, from time to time. But that wasn't all. Oh, no, that'd be much too easy for Adrian. Of course not: destiny hates him and he has to be forcefully living on the edge. The feathers fell just as a normal bird's feather would... This, of course, I realized, meant bad news. I quickly got away from them as they landed on the ground. Upon falling, they exploded like one of Cid's TNT cartridges, making a whole mess of things. Even though none of us received a direct hit (thankfully), the blasts pushed us against the walls, columns, and floor. They were really brutal. We had to be very careful not to get hit by one of those things, or we would stain the fine masonry. Yup: not a pretty picture.

I managed to get to one of the Nobodies and sliced through one of his back-wings with my scythe. The fiend began to spin, attempting to cut me in half. Thankfully I'm a vampire, and that gives me enough speed to strike even at the fastest foe. I managed to both block and attack the Nobody's wings and shattered the second back-wing. Once it stopped, the enemy tried to unleash a new attack. Finally, the being uncovered its chest... and revealed rows and rows of sharp, disgusting teeth. It was like a shark's mouth down there! Who has a mouth in their stomach?? It was... it was... it was freaking sickening!

"SHIT, SON!!" I yelled, turning away, trying to push him back with my hand. "That is whack!!" And then, I accidentally activated the spring on my arm and fired my sword at its hideous mouth. I guess he must've choked on it, or something, because it quickly vanished into nothingness. Oh, silly me... "Dang... I always forget I have to get this adjusted... Sorry! It's my first day!" I murmured, grabbing my sword and getting ready for another attack. Seriously, I needed to be more careful with my blade. It's always plenty of fun until someone loses an eye. Shame on me!

We had already killed about seven fiends. Octavius had fond out that if we took out one wing per pair, the enemies would be defenseless and they could easily be disposed of with a quick blow. Unable to fly and to protect their chest, they were simple roaches. But there were still thirteen more enemies, and they were giving one hell of a fight. Octavius, Ryu, and Ken were the ones in worst shape, since they got hit by a lot of those sharp feathers. They weren't fast or agile enough to get out of their way. Fortunately, Tish was constantly curing them, so there wasn't much of a problem. Of course, the Nobodies quickly realized that the smart thing to do was to take out the healing fairy and then work their way through us. But obviously, neither Demean nor Merryck allow them to get near. I had to join them for a moment and help them out, while Ryoga and Ryu kept Sakura safe.

But the young girl wasn't entirely defenseless. She had already destroyed one Nobody by herself, by taking out three wings with furious attacks and energy waves... Unfortunately, the fiends were learning to keep their mouths shut. Leon and Demean had each killed one of them the moment they uncovered their weak spot, the elf by firing a deadly arrow covered with Tish's powerful magic, and the powerful man by unleashing a potent fireball. I saw the Nobody swallow it whole... What can I say? It got owned. Well, anyway, because of those little stunts (and my inopportune sword), the Nobodies were being more careful.

Ryoga's umbrella had steel feathers all over it. I never knew that thing would become so handy. He hadn't beaten a single Nobody, but he had done one hell of a job keeping Sakura and himself without a scratch. Ken had obliterated one of the idiots who had been pestering him with quick, sharp feathers. He rolled at him and instantly concentrated all of his power on his fist. He then leapt into the air with a mighty roar.

"SHINRYU-KEN!!"

A cyclone of flames engulfed his body and shattered the enemy in the blink of an eye. A trio of fiends seemed to be waiting for him upon landing, yet Ryu was already taking care of them.

"TATSUMAKISENPUU-KIAKU!!" he yelled and broke a pair of wings from each foe, forcing them to fly away.

Jam was under heavy enemy fire. Four Nobodies were harassing her with sharp feathers and explosive blasts. She was unable to strike back and was slowly getting cornered. Seeing as how Demean and Tish were doing fine by themselves and only a pair of Nobodies were going after them, I thought it would be best to lend Sora's object of perversion a hand. I had to protect those legs... Er, I mean, that girl... Yeah? Well, I at least admit it, dang it! Legs, legs, legs, legs...!! You know I'm kidding. I may be crazy (according to Will and Ukyo... and the rest of my companions... psche, right, whatever), but I'm not a pervert. Oh, no, Sora had already taken that position... Again, I digress.

Either way, I leapt on one of the Nobodies and reached the one closest to Jam. With a potent blow of my scythe, I destroyed all of its right wings, causing it to crash against the ground. The hit killed it. I then landed next to the aforementioned girl and put myself on guard.

"Howzit going?" I murmured.

"Get away from me!" she whispered. "I want them to come near me!"

"And people think I'm the nut-case around here..."

"I'll be fine, Adrian! I want to try something..."

"That something better not get you killed, you hear?" I said and turned to mist and discretely got away from the scene.

Like moths to the flame, the three remaining Nobodies swarmed around Jam and begun to spin. They had cut off all escape routes, and it appeared that our friend would soon be sliced like a tomato. However, the girl had other plans.

"Fell right for it, bastards!" she laughed. She then let loose a brutal explosion that engulfed her and her enemies. "RENHOUKYAKU!!" she screamed and literally scorched the fiends.

"OH, OWNED!!" I laughed.

"See?" she proudly said to me. "I can take care of myself."

Only one enemy remained. Sakura quickly raced against him, eager to finish him off. But the girl got overconfident... The foe received her by uncovering its hideous face and unleashing a foul breath that knocked Sakura down. She quickly got up, but started to cough uncontrollably and stumbled with her own feet. The enemy was about to bury one of its wings on her chest, but Demean stopped it with one of his arrows. Before the Nobody could try another attack, Tish froze its wings with an icy spell, allowing the rest of us to easily shatter them and kill it. Yet, though we had won the fight, Sakura was in bad shape...

"Get away from me...! I'll get you!!" she shouted between coughs as she weakly punched and kicked the air about her. It seemed that, to her, everything was an enemy that needed to be taken care of. "I'll get...!!" Soon, she was unable to keep shouting and lay still.

"Sakura!!" Ryoga cried as he knelt by her side. "No, Sakura! Please, hang on!" We all got really freaked when she started to have some sort of seizure.

"Step away, everyone," Tish hastily said. "I shall tend her." She began to speak in elfish and a light engulfed the poisoned girl. Slowly, Sakura calmed down and began to cough less and less...

"Okay: are we all calmer now?" Gixadia unashamedly asked. "It's always the same with you, people: people just come to you to say 'hello' and what do you do? You freak out and start to attack like idiots. Self-control, people, self-control..."

"You stupid bastard..." Ryoga growled. "I'll get you!!" He leapt at him, ready to crush his skull with his fist. But amazingly, Gixadia quickly sidestepped and caught our friend by the neck. In less than a second, Ryoga was gasping and kicking for air...

"This would be the part where I snap your neck," Gixadia snarled evilly.

No more clowning around. No way in hell I was going to let him do that. Demean beat me to an attack; he fired an arrow aimed at the fiend's heart. But the bastard actually dodged it. Now, that was really something. Few were the creatures that could evade one of that elf's shots. That could only mean that he was dangerously powerful. But there was no choice: we had to suck it up and face him. For my part, I raced to him at full speed and swung my scythe at him. He leapt away and I only cut through air. However, I managed to force him to release Ryoga. I guess that Demean's arrow had distracted him a bit...

"Hey, take it easy!" he innocently said, raising his hands. "I was only playing! Honest! I wasn't going to kill him... yet," he mouthed, with an evil glitter in his eyes.

"You better not piss me off, 'cause you're going to be sorry if you do," I threatened.

"Listen, I only came here to tell Sora something, but since he's not with you, I'm leaving," Gixadia declared.

"How about some answers, first?" I demanded. "What did you want to tell Sora?"

"I wanted to tell him about all that happened at Castle Oblivion, of course," he replied.

"What about that?"

"Oh, you shouldn't mind. It's all in the past... And Sora's the one who should be hearing that, not you. Either way, I have to go. This is Xaldin's turf anyway. Look, just do what you always do and... we'll do what we always do. Oh, well... later days," he concluded and then he disappeared.

I hated when they did that. "Oh, we're douches and we love to leave you in a cliffhanger. Ta-ta! Cheers! _Adieu_!" So annoying! But mostly, I was pissed because of what he did to Ryoga, of course...

There was no point in going about it at that moment. I put my scythe away with a grumble and offered Ryoga a hand.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah..." he coughed and allowed me to help him to his feet. "The bastard got away..."

"'Got away'? Be glad he left for now, Ryoga. You could've gotten killed," I retorted. "Never ever attack when you're angry... That's a huge mistake."

"Yeah...? You seemed upset, yourself."

"Okay, allow me to rephrase: don't attack like an idiot. When in battle, the head is more important than the heart. If you're mad, then at least try to listen to the little Ryoga upstairs. Understand?"

"...Yeah, I got it," he sighed. He then turned to the rest of our friends with concern. "Sakura?"

"She's okay, Ryoga," Ryu answered as he helped the girl. Tish had successfully cured her, but she still seemed a bit weak. "Don't worry about it."

"I'm fine, Ryoga," Sakura said, with a cough. "Tish got me fixed... Thanks, Tish," she added, looking at the fairy.

"No need to thank me," the fairy replied. "Just be wary of your attacks."

"Yeah, it was a mistake... I promise not to do it again."

"Then all will be good."

"So that was one of the Organization XIII Nobodies," Demean said as Ryoga and I rejoined the group and he hugged Sakura. "These opponents seem quite powerful."

"This one does, at least," Leon intervened. "And I fear that he displayed only a fraction of his power... The one we faced in the Underworld didn't seem as powerful, though."

"No... We gave that guy a whooping," I said. "This one's different. And he said there was another of them around, so we have to be extra-careful."

"Did you find out anything else?" Tish asked. "Your dark powers must have aided you, correct?"

"His mind was a complete mess," I replied, shaking my head. "I couldn't read squat..."

"If he was able to keep secrets from you, Mr. Adrian, then his power must be more terrible than we can imagine," Merryck muttered.

"Maybe, maybe not. We'll have to be wary either way."

"There is no use in thinking about it any further," Octavius grumbled, sheathing his katana. "We must find both the servants and our friends. If the other Nobody traitor has as much power as this one, then I fear for the sake of our companions."

"Regarding that..." Ken said as we put away our weapons and started to walk about the castle again. "It'd be nice if you said those sorts of things to Felicia every now and then."

"I do not have the time to concern myself with such mundane matters," the were-bear said with special dryness in his voice.

"Dude; do whatever the hell you want," Ken groused, raising his arms and turning away, knowing that digging into the subject would be a waste of time. It would've been the perfect time for me to tease the teddy... But quite frankly, I was not in the mood. I like to mess with him when he tries to act 'cool', yet I can't freaking stand him when he behaves like an authentic jerk; so I was with Ken on that.

We kept on searching quietly. I guess we weren't in very high spirits anymore. I took the lead and hoped to find something soon. But this time, it seemed that not even my inhuman eyes could discern any clue. That castle sucked...

Suddenly, I heard a noise behind a door on my right. I turned to it and took out my scythe. My friends quickly stopped in their tracks and unsheathed their weapons as well. I patiently waited for my future prey to come out of the door... And then, it slammed wide open and I got to take a good look at my enemy...

"Oh. It's you," she grumbled.

The mere sight of her got me extremely relieved and in a really good mood... and all wired up.

"AHHHH!!" I screamed.

"It's me, you idiot! Quit yelling!"

"AHHHH!!"

"You fucking moron!!" Baiken roared and took a menacing step forth. I quickly leapt away and hid behind my friends.

"AHHHH!!" I repeated.

"Son of a bitch!!" she groused. Three words: easy as pie! "God, I fucking hate that asshole!"

I couldn't help but to laugh like mad. She was adorable!

"You're not fooling anyone!" I yelled. "You love me and you know it!"

Boy, the glare she gave me when I said that... It was priceless. It's too bad Sakura didn't take a picture. I would've treasured that photograph forever.

"Adrian, please..." Demean murmured. Oh, the poor elf was nervous! Sissy!!

"You're a pansy!" I laughed at him.

"For all that you hold dear, not now..." Tish pleaded. Dang...

"Okay, okay..."

"Please, let's not go through this again!" Felicia suddenly yelled as she and the rest of our companions came through the door. "I'm sick of babysitting you, Adrian!"

"But I'm such a n—"

I had to shut up. Both Tish and Camille gave me one of their angry glances. Even the great Adrian knows when he can have his butt handed to him... "I'll behave..." I shyly murmured with a grin.

"Are you all okay?" quickly asked Jam before I could change my mind about staying quiet.

"We're fine," Catherine replied. "We found the servants, at last. We already set them free."

"Ah, that is great news," the elf said, with a relieved sigh.

"Cogsworth is coming with us: he's going to help us get the Beast back to his senses," Donald declared and pointed at a small clock which walked to us and politely bowed... I swear I'm NOT making that up!

"...Damn, son," I muttered. I was genuinely surprised.

"Gracious! It seems I will never stop becoming marveled with the many things there are to discover within the worlds!" Merryck exclaimed.

"I know my appearance may be startling, but don't be alarmed," the clock said. "I only want to speak with the Master... Perhaps I could help you persuade him."

"Well, um..." Ryu stuttered. It took him a few more seconds to come out of the shock. "Don't you think he might want to throw you into the dungeon again?"

"We'll make sure that doesn't happen," Sora said. "Sorry, guys: it looks like we got to the goal first."

"Awww, the K-K-Keyblade master is trying to impress Jam again!" I teased. He had it coming and you know it.

"What? I—stop it!" he stuttered. So easy!

"Guys, seriously, let's not go through this again," Ukyo sighed. Okay, I believe they all needed a break. But for the record: it's not my fault I was surrounded by a bunch of pansies... Well, maybe it was. Anyway, I had to cut it out for the time being, unless I wanted to give someone a stroke... and Felicia looked like she would have one if Baiken freaked out again.

"Okay, seriously," I said, calming down my laugher. "Congrats on rescuing the servants. We don't have very good news, though... We ran into one of your Organization XIII friends."

"They're not my friends!" Sora whined.

"Well, he..." I cleared my throat. He was begging me to abuse him, but I had to exercise some self-control. "He was looking for you. He said he wanted to tell you about what happened at Castle Oblivion... Ring any bells?"

"Castle Oblivion?" the kid muttered, seemingly baffled. "...Honestly, two-thirds of the time I don't have a clue of what they're talking about."

"You have no memory of this place whatsoever?" Octavius mused.

"No way... I think they must be on drugs, or something."

"I rather think that is possibly where you were when we had no memory of you, Donald, Goofy, or Siegfried." Well, the were-bear did have good ideas from time to time. Too bad no one liked him.

"That could be true..." Siegfried murmured. "But I really don't think it's a good idea to trust those bastards."

"Well, there is no use thinking about the past right now," Wilheim intervened. "It will be best if we go to Beast and allow Cogsworth to squeeze some sense into his stubborn head," he concluded and we all headed to the west wing.

"Adrian, was he someone new?" Sora asked as he caught up with me.

"Nope. It was Gixadia. Remember that jerk?" I said.

"Yeah, the weird guy with the crazy hair in the Underworld," the kid sighed.

"Oh, also, we should be careful, 'cause according to him, there's probably another of those douches around here."

"Oh, great..."

"Any name in particular?" Ukyo asked.

"I don't remember... It had an 'x' in it."

"That's helpful: they all have an 'x'," Baiken grumbled.

"Sorry; my brain is made out of Teflon," I chuckled. "Sometimes I just—Xaldin! That's what he said."

"Well, never heard of that guy before," Sora said. "Let's keep an eye out for him."

"I do not doubt for a moment that these fiends have already established contact with Beast," Demean muttered. "They have had the time to do so. I fear that they have poisoned his mind..."

"And you guys didn't stop them because...?" Baiken said, getting angry again. Just because the guys seemed really tense, I kept my mouth shut. And I mean 'tense' like they would black out if that woman went on a rampage again.

"They disappeared when we tried to catch up with them," Tish explained.

"Right, I forgot those idiots are cowards," the woman sighed.

"Oh, shoot! It looks like we've got company again!" Catherine warned. A second later, I noticed the group of Heartless that was charging at us. Some monsters just can't learn their lesson... Oh, well. Sucked to be them.

After the horde of Nobodies, these guys turned out to be a bunch of pushovers. A LOT of pushovers, but weaklings all the same. Everything pointed out to a long, tedious fight. I mean, you know that I like a good brawl, but I like it when there's a bit of challenge involved. At that moment, as I raced to the Heartless nearest to me and beheaded him with a blow of my scythe, I realized things would be more or less the same than beating a punching bag. Oh, well... I had already taken on this job, so I might as well stop whining, suck it up, and start beating the crap out of some of those idiots.

Everyone had their mind on the fight. Catherine was a pretty good warrior, like Demean had said, and was making quick work of every Heartless that came her way. Too bad for Leon: he wouldn't be able to prove his manliness to her. Not like the K-K-Keyblade master, who was showing off as much as he could to impress Jam... Hey, I know better than you! You weren't there...! Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating. Maybe he was just doing his best to get rid of the foes as quickly as he could. But, as far as it concerns me, he just wanted another patronizing kiss. How sad.

But don't think that I was just searching for an excuse to own that shorty. My mind was on the fight and on all that was taking place about it. Because of that, I managed to discern a shadow in the corner of my eye. Turning to it, I saw a hooded figure run past the stairs and head to the west wing.

"DOUCHE!!" I screamed, pointing at the Organization XIII sucker. "I see a douche!!"

"Shut the f—!" Baiken began, thinking I was making another untimely joke, yet when she noticed the idiot, she immediately yelled: "Someone go get that prick! I'll stay behind and beat the living shit out of these fuckers!"

"The slower ones stay behind and watch our backs!" Felicia instructed. "Those fast enough to keep up with me, follow me!"

"You're not the boss of me!!" I chuckled, BUT I nonetheless started to run after the idiot as quickly as possible, along with the cat-woman, Catherine, Demean, Tish, Jam, Ukyo, and Sora (though the kid wasn't as fast, I suppose he wanted to keep checking out Jam... okay, now I'm overdoing it. He just wanted some answers, I guess).

As a vampire, I can be the fastest within the group. That's why I didn't have much trouble in catching up with the foe. He was already making his way into Beast's room. I stopped behind him and called out to him.

"DOUCHE!!" I yelled again. "You can't outrun the mighty Adrian! Face me now, and perhaps I'll let you live!"

The Nobody didn't turn to see me. He merely began to chuckle in a low voice while keeping very still.

"Dang, you could try to be a tad more original than that, son," I said. "'You're too late, Mr. Bond...' Bet you were going to say something like that, weren't ya?"

"Oh, but you are too late," the fiend jeered. Man... How can you tease a guy that doesn't take a hint? "Soon, the Beast will join our ranks..."

"Whatcha talkin' about, Willis?"

"I doubt a buffoon like you could ever understand. If you'll excuse me, I have someone to talk to..." At that moment, the rest of my friends – those quick enough to keep up with me—I mean, with Felicia – joined me. The fiend chuckled evilly again and merely said: "It seems you are in need of company. Please, enjoy." And with that said, a new army of Nobodies appeared, standing between us and the Organization XIII douche bag, who quickly entered Beast's room. At least there weren't any of those winged, ugly suckers there. Most of them were samurai-like creatures...

"I'm not letting him get away!" Sora yelled. "I'm going through you, fools!"

"These foes will stand no chance against us!" Demean exclaimed and fired a speedy arrow at one of the Nobodies, piercing his head in the blink of an eye. But despite his terrific aim, it would take more than a bundle of arrows to get rid of the many idiots that were blocking our path. It was time to get messy again.

Of course, though we had to get rid of the stupid Nobodies, someone had to hurry up and go after Dr. Douche. It was clear that this Beast character was in great danger and someone had to lend him a hand... Guess who the ideal chaser was.

"Adrian, turn into mist and catch up with him while we deal with these bozos!" Ukyo yelled.

"Right: I have to be the one living on the edge... again!" I wailed and my body turned into ethereal matter. My enemies tried to cut me, but it was as useless as trying to cut through vapor. I quickly made my way to the door and slipped underneath it as my companions fought against the Nobodies. Ukyo, Jam, and Felicia hastily leapt over the Nobodies and made their stand at the door, making sure that no one would interrupt my meeting with Dr. Douche.

I changed back to my human form as soon as I entered the room. God, what a mess it was... Clearly someone had let loose a wild cat in there or something. Everything was broken and shredded. Paintings, furniture, the bed... I was half expecting to see a trashcan on fire and a biker gang driving around a table with coke. Okay, that might be a tad too much... Whatever the case, Dr. Douche was in there and was standing next to a freaking huge monster. I supposed that was Beast. They both turned to see me as I put myself on guard.

"What did I tell you?" the Organization XIII jerk said. "She's sent her lackeys. Belle is turning everyone against you..."

"Exactly!" I scoffed. "Because, as we all know, Belle is a criminal mastermind bent on taking over the world...! Please!! Rule number one about lying: if you're going to make something up, then at least try to come up with a believable lie."

"Take care of him..." the fiend muttered and then – what a surprise – he disappeared. I was seriously beginning to get annoyed by that stunt.

Before I could say another word, the monster let out a terrible roar and lunged at me. He threw his fist at my face, but I ducked in time and my – I regret to say – opponent ended up with his hand stuck in a wall. It was then that I got to get a good look of him.

"WHOA, UGLY!!" I yelled. What?? It's true and you know it!!

As a reply, the Beast tried to cut me down with his claws. I parried the blow with my scythe's hilt and leapt away. I guessed it was time to act with a bit of seriousness for a change...

"Dude, I'm on your side!" I said. "You're not seriously going to believe whatever Dr. Douche has told you, are you?" In spite of my efforts, though, Beast didn't look like he was going to be civilized. He charged at me yet again, threatening to bite my head off with his huge fangs. I still wasn't ready to give up on him, so I leapt to the roof and attempted to persuade him to listen to reason once more. "Listen, Beast, I don't know you and you don't know me, but I don't want to hurt you! Belle isn't the villain around here. None of us are!"

My opponent leapt at me and slashed through the ceiling as I glided to the bed. I wasn't making much progress...

"Beast, I don't want to attack you, but if you keep it up, I'm going to have to send you on a trip to Black-out-Land." Of course, my gentle advice was worth for two things: for nothing and for squat.

Beast leapt on the bed next to me. I leapt over his head, but this time, my opponent turned out to be a bit faster than I expected. He took a swipe at my back and wounded me as he sent me flying across the room and I crashed right into a mirror. The injuries I had suffered were deep and would've been otherwise fatal if I were human. But instead of getting weak and losing myself, I simply shook my head and faced my adversary, determined to fight him off this time.

"That was a dirty move," I said. "Okay, hairball... You asked for it."

The stubborn idiot charged yet again. I dodged his attack and then swung my scythe at his mouth. Not to worry: I smacked him with the hilt. The attack barely made a difference... The only thing it did was to piss him off even more. So, I evaded his swing and counterattacked again, this time with a series of hits. I successfully caused the foe to take a step back, shaking his head. By this time, I had already fully regenerated my wounds.

The Beast stared at me with great anger and growled for a few seconds.

"Get out of here!!" he finally yelled.

"Oh, so you can talk!" I said. "How about we sit down and have a nice chat? Or do you want me to leave your head full of bumps?"

"I'll teach you a lesson!!"

But before the jackass could get to it AGAIN, the door to the room swung wide open and my friends appeared, with Sora leading them.

"Beast!" he exclaimed. "It's me, Sora!"

The monster quickly raced at the kid. It didn't look like he was going to give him a welcoming hug. Ukyo immediately stood before the boy and received the Beast with a swing of her mighty spatula, sending him flying across the room, right over me. He crashed into a wall and then some pieces of ceiling came crashing on his head. I raised my hands and yelled:

"Field-goal! Three points!"

"Ukyo, don't!" Sora cried. "He's with us!"

"I don't think he knows that right now, sugar," the girl answered.

"But we're not here to kill him!"

"No, we're here to calm him down; the easy way or the hard way..." Jam added.

"Beast, we will not suffer you to hurt our friends, so be warned: we will defend ourselves," Demean said.

"Get out of here! All of you!" the creature roared and charged against us. Stubborn as a mule...

Catherine quickly used her magical skills to freeze the ground under Beast's feet, causing him to slip and fall. Tish used the ice to create some of her own and hastily ensnared our opponent's extremities. He was rendered immobile, though we all knew he wouldn't stay forever like that: as he struggled to free himself from the icy bonds, these started to crack. We surrounded him and remained on our guards while Cogsworth approached him and exclaimed:

"Master, please! Come to your senses! Don't you realize what you're doing?"

Beast undid his bonds and attacked the person nearest to him: Jam. With blinding speed, the woman slipped past behind him and then hit him on the back with a powerful, blazing fist, sending him straight into a wall... Well, the room was already a mess, so no one cared about breaking a few more stuff.

"Master, stop! I beg of you!" Cogsworth went on.

The monster shook his head and remained still for a few moments, as if his servant's words were actually making sense to him. Nonetheless, he still needed a bit more convincing. He lunged at Felicia, yet she skillfully avoided his claws and scratched him with her own a few times before delivering a potent kick to the jaw. As he lay on the ground, Sora quickly leapt on top of him, placing his legs on top of his arms to keep him from moving. Of course, we all knew that the boy didn't weigh a ton and Demean and I raced to his side and held Beast's legs, while Catherine, Ukyo, and Jam restrained his hands.

"Master, come back to us!" the clock-creature pleaded. "Please, we need you!"

Beast struggled for a few moments. It was really hard to contain him. He was strong as a bull. I wasn't in the mood for another of his swings, so I put some extra strength in my legs and hands to keep him still. And at last, the brute calmed down. His eyes rolled back and he passed out for an instant. We all loosened our grip on him as he came to and shook his head.

"...Sora?" he mumbled.

"...You're back," the kid said with a sigh of relief as we all let him go and stepped back.

"...What... what happened?" he murmured, seemingly confused.

"Oh, Master, you've awakened!" Cogsworth exclaimed happily.

"Cogsworth...? What are you...? What is everyone doing here?"

"Well, you sort of required an intervention," I explained. "It seems like Dr. Douche put you in some sort of trance."

"Dr. Douche...? What are you talking about?" he mumbled. He then noticed Demean, Tish, Felicia, and Ukyo. "You, too? What's going on? Are the Heartless causing trouble again?"

"I am afraid they are," the elf answered. "But they are not the ones that did this to you, apparently."

"What happened to me?"

"You don't remember anything?" Felicia asked.

"No, I..." Beast stuttered and put his hand on his forehead, forcing himself to recall. "I... Yes... Now that you mention it... I remember talking to a man in a black cloak."

"Dr. Douche," I intervened. "Well, I guess that his real name was Xaldin, right?"

"Yes! That's the one," he said.

"Guys!" two voices cried from outside the room. Seconds later, Donald and Goofy joined us. "Are you all okay?"

"You came, too?" Beast asked.

"We're okay, guys," Sora answered. "We're ALL okay. Beast woke up... so to speak."

"That's good to hear," Donald sighed, lowering his staff. "The rest of the guys are cleaning up. They'll be here in a moment."

"You were telling us, Beast..." Tish said. "What did Xaldin do to you?"

"He... he poisoned my mind," the creature explained. "He used my despair... my hopelessness... my sadness... he turned it all into anger. I was blind... He made me think that Belle was plotting against me... My servants, too... At first I was afraid I would hurt them. But then..."

"If you were afraid of hurting them, why did you lock them up?" Jam questioned.

"Oh, I get it!" Goofy exclaimed. "That's why you locked up your servants, right? Because you were afraid of hurting them. You put them out of your way so you wouldn't do anything bad to them!"

...But of course!

"I... I..." Beast mumbled. "I guess..." Right. Who could refuse such a convenient explanation? That absolved him of all guilt... Okay, maybe I am being a little harsh. Perhaps he did really think of protecting his servants when the time came.

"That was very thoughtful of you, Master! Maybe you are turning a new leaf after all!" Cogsworth said.

"Well... either way, I mistreated Belle..."

"I guess she'll understand," Sora said. "Why don't we go to her room? You can tell her you're sorry. It wasn't your fault... Well, not entirely."

"Why would he have done that?"

"He must've been trying to turn you into a Heartless," Ukyo guessed. "If he would've succeeded, your body would've left behind a Nobody."

"An extremely powerful Nobody," Sora added. "Yeah, that sounds logical."

"Those Organization XIII guys are nothing but trouble," Donald quacked. "We've run into them many times and all they do is to make a mess out of things."

"That's right... Anyway, Beast, let's go meet Belle. Oh, and by the way, it's nice to see you again."

"Thanks..." Beast mumbled. Before we could leave the room, he turned to Ukyo and said: "I never got to tell you this before, but, I'm sorry for your loss."

"My loss?" the girl mumbled, with a puzzled glance.

"Yes... I barely knew Wilheim, but he was a brave lad..."

"Ohh, that!" Ukyo exclaimed, with a giggle. "Regarding that, we have great news..."

As she finished saying this, the rest of our friends showed up. It didn't seem like they had much fun. Unlike good old Adrian, who always lives on the edge. They get to fight waves and waves of weak, predictable Heartless and the stupid vampire gets to go one-on-one with a monster that can make an elephant cry for its mommy. What would they do without me?

Anyway, Beast quickly noticed Wilheim. He was baffled, at first, but in the end, he drew a relieved smile on his face.

"How is this possible...?" he whispered.

"My friend, it is a long story; one that must be told later," Wilheim answered as he approached the creature and effusively shook his hand. "Right now, though, there are more important things we must see to."

"Yeah; for one part, we must tend to the M—Belle," I quickly corrected. I had no idea if Beast and Belle had something going on, but something told me it was not a good idea to say anything about that. At that moment, it was best that I knew nothing.

"Yeah... let's go," Beast agreed.

It had been a bit awkward, but at least we had gotten Beast back. Though the nasty cut in my back did require a bit more of extra blood to heal. I noticed my face was looking rather nasty when Sakura took a glance at me and then quickly turned away with... "that look" on her face. Yeah, I'm disgusting: live with it.

Who cares, anyway? I had three lovely ladies to choose from... Okay, perhaps just one, but I could very well bug the other two... Mostly because I had fed not too long ago. Stupid Beast... It was his fault I needed to drink some more blood again.

"Felicia..." I called to her, putting my hand on her shoulder. "I'm thirsty."

"What?" she squealed. "This is another joke, right?"

"Does this look like the face of a man who's joking?" I retorted.

"...No," she admitted when she saw me. "But it's not my problem anymore! Go tell Camille."

"She already gave me a bit of blood," I said, toying with my fingers.

"And you expect ME to help out?? After all the mess you've caused??"

"I've been good!! Besides, we split up: I barely had the chance to do anything."

"Barely?? You did cause a mess a while ago!"

"...But I'm such a nice guy... Besides, you did it for Wilheim back in the day!"

"Wilheim does behave!!"

"What are you saying about me?" Wilheim intervened.

"She's saying you're a sissy; shut up," I replied.

"And you still want me to give you some blood??" Felicia cried.

"It is funny to hear you calling me a sissy, especially since you got that scar from a squirrel," Mr. Germany said. Dang it! My stories aren't supposed to serve as a weapon against me!

"It was a vicious squirrel! You weren't there!!"

At least I got Felicia to laugh.

"Would you please cut it out?" Beast grumbled. Weird... I was expecting the tone to shut us up to be SLIGHTLY more feminine...

"Hey, you've got no saying in this! It's your fault I need the blood, wise guy."

"What?" Beast muttered. Not with anger, but with, some might say, genuine concern. I now confess myself guilty as charged: it hadn't been his fault... I shouldn't have said that.

"...Forget it, sorry," I sighed. But before any of us could say another word, we saw Ranma and Akane. They ran to were we stood with worried faces. When it rains, it pours...

"Guys! Here you are!" Akane exclaimed.

"Ms. Akane! Mr. Ranma!" Merryck said. "What are you doing here? Where is Belle? I reckon you did not leave her alone..."

"That's the thing: we don't know where she is!" Ranma answered.

"What?!" Beast yelled, making his way through everyone and facing the duo.

"The Nobodies attacked," Ranma explained. "We held them off and kicked our butts, and told Belle to stay in the room's corner..."

"But when the fight was over, she was no longer there!" Akane concluded. "She must've run off while we were distracted!"

"What if it was one of the Organization XIII guys?" Jam murmured.

"We have to find her now, before they harm her," Catherine said, trying to remain calm.

"Oh, Belle..." Beast said, on the verge of falling on his knees. "This is all my fault..."

"How about you blame yourself after we find the girl?" Baiken said. "Shit... the things we have to do for a freaking keyhole."

"With the Organization XIII and the Heartless about, I say we remain together," Ukyo suggested. "Besides, Beast knows the castle from top to bottom. Start leading the way, Beast: let's find Belle."

"...I'll get those fiends!!" the monster roared as he took off at full speed, with the rest of us struggling to keep up behind him. I would have to hold on a bit longer before having some more blood... It can sometimes suck to be Adrian.

"You should have been more careful," Octavius scolded the guys. "Because of your irresponsibility, Belle might be in mortal danger!"

"It's called a mistake – there's no need to beat them down anymore," I grumbled. Ranma and Akane were already feeling terrible as it was. It was useless to reproach them... I was seriously beginning to tire of the were-bear's behavior.

We kept running behind Beast as he headed to God knew where. I supposed it was useless to check the room Belle had been in. It was slightly unlikely that the fiends who kidnapped her were hiding her there. Who knows where they had gone to. I was really worried that they fled from the castle. Who knows what they were planning to do to her...

But it turned out that Belle was much closer than we thought. Because, as we made our way through the stairs that lead to both the Western and Eastern wings, we heard her cry coming from a place we had previously visited: the ball room.

"Belle!!" Beast howled and broke into the stance without a second thought.

The room was immense and really elegant. The floor was all waxed and reflected the huge chandelier that hung from the ceiling, as long as the beautiful painting that adorned it. We were surrounded by columns that seemed to be made out of marble. On the opposite side of the room, there was a balcony behind a window, one of many that surrounded the stance. Right then, we saw Belle. Thankfully, she wasn't being held captive by anyone... Either she had escaped or the Organization XIII jerks had let her go, I guess. Whatever the case, that was the good news... The bad news was that she was being chased by a dark entity. At first glance, it looked like one of the black balls we had battled in the past; a form of Heartless I hadn't seen for a while. Beast immediately raced to Belle's aid as she locked herself out in the balcony, out of the monster's reach.

"Belle!!" our companion screamed.

"I'm okay!" the girl assured. Of course, her being okay meant we weren't going to have a good time.

The Heartless, like I've said, looked a lot like the black balloons we had fought during our previous adventures. However, it was three times bigger than its counter parts, and it had a bunch of chains around it. A blue, eerie aura engulfed it. We could all feel its evil power flowing through the room. Yep, this sucker was bound to give us more trouble than one of the other ordinary puff balls. We kind of got a hint when the enemy let out a shriek and a shadow covered the ground, crawled up the columns and consumed the ceiling's painting. The tall windows became solid as bricks. We could no longer see the sky... we could only see the fiend, taunting us with a stupid smile. But, just as we were preparing to strike, the royal idiot disappeared.

"Crud..." Sora muttered, readying the Keyblade.

"Why do they have to disappear?" I whined. "We're going to kill it anyway... Why bother?"

"You cannot know that, my good vampire..." Camille muttered, carefully studying our surroundings. "Do not sell the lion's skin before skinning it."

"Well, my dear succubus, it just so happens that—" I don't remember what I was going to say anymore. The thought was completely erased from my mind. An enormous shadow covered the windows. For a moment, we could only see blackness... And then, the monster – don't ask me how it did it – flashed chains the size of one of the castle's towers by the windows. A blinding flash followed this and six separate trails of energy raced at us through the ground... I've said it before, and I'll say it again. It sucks to be Adrian. "...Oop."

"Watch out!!"

We quickly dodged the trails of energy. Unfortunately, not all of us were fast enough. Leon was unable to get his arm out of the way and was hit by the attack. He flew backwards, letting out a pain-filled yell, and then rolled on the ground.

"Leon!!" Sora cried as we raced to the fallen man.

"My God, Leon!" Catherine exclaimed as she held the man and help him sit. "Your arm! Did... did it cut it off?"

Leon shook his head.

"No... The bone kept it from doing that," he replied, showing us half a smile and half an expression of unbearable pain on his face.

"And here I was beginning to think you didn't have a sense of humor," I said. Of course, you know just as well as I do that he was only trying to impress Miss Valkyrie...

"You'd be surprised," he grunted while Catherine healed his wound.

"Enough of that," Octavius said. "Be on your guards... The fiend is near..." He sniffed the air about, doing his best to discern where the enemy's stench came from. Slowly, he tilted his head up and finally looked at the chandelier. "There it is!!" he roared.

Thanks to his timely warning, we were all able to get out of the way of the immense adornment, which came crashing down like a meteor. This time, no one was hurt... initially. Because after about a second, three pairs of lasers sprouted from the chandelier as it began to twirl, aiming to cut us down once again... That was just ridiculous. But, as ridiculous as it may have been, the beams were deadly, so we had to avoid them in whatever way we could.

I had it easy. I simply turned into mist and sat there, waiting for the Heartless to stop making the chandelier spin like a top. The rest of my friends had it a bit rougher... Tish and Camille quickly flapped their wings and remained hovering over the lasers, the succubus holding Merryck in her arms. Though the hobbit complained that he could take care of himself, I'm sure he could've put a bit more emphasis on the whining... but it's not like he could do a whole lot of griping while in the arms of that woman.

Those who didn't have wings were forced to either leap over the rows of beams or run around the ball room away from them. The most agile of them managed to squeeze their bodies through some of the lasers' openings. As I watch the rest of them run like a pack of scared zebras trying to flee from a lion, I could only hope that the Heartless would not suddenly change the way of his attack. That would be really bad.

Fortunately, the enemy wasn't as smart. The moment the chandelier stopped spinning, the lasers vanished. Naturally, our first reaction was to hit the adornment with everything we had. I was thinking that we would later have to apologize to Beast for breaking that fine piece of artwork... But the stupid thing didn't shatter! Obviously, the Heartless was giving it an immense resistance. Well, it couldn't stay there forever. Hopefully the sound of clanking swords against metal would drive it nuts.

"By the Holy powers of Heaven, I cast you out!!" I yelled, while frantically banging the chandelier with my scythe. "The power of Christ compels you!!"

"Shut the fuck up!!" the humor-less wonder roared.

Yet right then, the chandelier returned to the ceiling and the dark power moved elsewhere. Who would've thought?

"It actually worked!" I laughed.

"You did shit! Shut up and pay attention!" Baiken said. Self-control, self-control...

We remained silent, backs to one another, waiting for the Heartless to show its face again. We would only have a few moments to strike, so we had to be well on our guards...

"Adrian..." murmured Wilheim. I was expecting him to ask me to be quiet. But instead... "One of these days, you are going to get struck by lightning."

"Why the heck?? I wasn't cursing!! Unlike you, God has a sense of humor!" I chuckled.

"Will, stop indulging the goddamn vampire!!" Baiken hissed.

"See?? See?? I'm not the one who's going to get a bolt up my butt!! She's the one cursing!!"

"For the last time, you retard, shut the—" yet before she could finish the sentence, the demon shot another half-dozen of energy trails from the windows. My prediction would've actually become true if it wouldn't have been for Jam, who quickly got a hold of the distracted woman and pulled her out of one of the bolt's way. I seriously needed to behave. It was all good when I just pissed her off... but not at the expense of distracting her in the middle of a battle. Honestly... I messed up. At least this time no one got hurt.

"Damn..." I muttered under my breath as both women got up. She was going to let me have it and this time I deserved it.

Yet I didn't get any verbal abuse... Baiken let out a single grumble and thanked Jam with a nod of her head. I guess it was more than she was expecting... Either way, the woman merely put herself back on guard and didn't even glare at me. I think she was a bit pissed at herself, because she had let my stupid jokes distract her at the worst moment. Oh, well... I'd apologize later anyway.

Suddenly, the pillars that surrounded the room all turned flaccid, like the tentacle of an anemone. We remained still and alert, trying to guess what the foe's next move would be. And after a few moments, as we were expecting it, one of the tentacles stretched and attempted to strike at us. I don't know if they were filled with poisonous darts, but I sure as hell wasn't in the mood of finding out. We all avoided the tentacle that moved straight at Siegfried. He wasn't fast enough to get out of the way, but he raised his shield just in time and blocked the blow. The force of the attack caused him to trip and fall on his back, yet at least none of the other tentacles tried to finish him while he was on the ground. The way I saw it, the Heartless was toying with us...

"There he is!!" Felicia exclaimed as he pointed at a far away pillar. We turned in the direction she signaled and saw the face of the demon imprinted in one of the tentacles. The were-cat was the first to race at the monster. Knowing that it had been discovered, the Heartless attacked her with all of its tentacles. However, Felicia skillfully dodged the lethal blows and pounced on her prey.

Our friend latched on to the fiend with her hind claws while ferociously swiping at him with her hands. The monster roared and we all knew it was in pain. Despite successfully catching the fiend, Felicia was completely vulnerable; all the other tentacles could easily catch her and kill her. I ran next to her and turned to the rest of my friends, who were also making their way to Felicia's side to protect her. I raised my hand and yelled:

"Stay where you are!"

Knowing that I was far from joking, they all did as I told them. Then, as the tentacles drew near us, I summoned all my energy to unleash a wall of flames. The flaccid pillars snapped back in apparent pain. I had to hold the fiery wall for as long as I could to give Felicia enough time to rip the Heartless apart.

"Hurry...!" I grunted, starting to feel weak.

"Die, die, die!!" the were-cat screamed, frenetically scratching the demon's face.

Thankfully, just as I ran out of energy, the Heartless left the pillar and started to hover above the shadowy ground. By the way it moved, it looked as if it was somewhat dazed from Felicia's furious attack. The rest of our friends showed no mercy. Tish put an icy spell in one of Demean's arrows and he shot the Heartless right in one of its eyes; the enemy roared and tried to pull out the arrow from its dark body. But before he succeeded, he received a handful of blows from everyone in the room. Beast was the one that went crazier on its ass, I think. He held it by its arms and bit down on its face. He was lucky the fiend was unable to return the bite... Once he was done, he took a swipe at it – one that made the one he unleashed upon me look like a sissy bitch slap – and let the others have some fun.

Though terribly weakened, the Heartless managed to disappear from our sight once again. We all gathered in the room's center, waiting for the fiend to come at us for the nth time.

The monster reappeared in the room's center. It looked pretty pissed.

"How about we end this now?" Donald asked.

"Do not rush into things so blindly," Tish said. "This Heartless seems to have more tricks up its sleeve. It will be best if we act carefully."

And – what a surprise – the monster did have a lot more tricks in store for us. Now perhaps you'll understand why I'm realist – not negative – and why I'm a firm follower of Murphy. The man was absolutely right about everything!

Here's what happened: the dark being let out a deafening roar, forcing us to cover our ears and turn away from it. When we looked at it again, it had transformed into a much more menacing monster. It now looked like a hideous, gigantic wolf (three times bigger than Beast, no less) with a mane of flames. Its eyes were still just as horrid and its fangs were now just as long as Wilheim's blade. But the Heartless merely showed us its true form for just a moment, for then, it melded with the walls about it and completely disappeared from our sight. That turned out to be even spookier.

"_Sheisse_..." Siegfried grumbled.

"Keep your eyes peeled in case he decides to show itself again," Catherine whispered.

"It is unlikely the coward will show itself again," Tish said.

The floor became as dark as the night. Things were definitively getting worse. And about a second later, we saw how Ranma was hit by an invisible force. He crashed against a column, but he wasn't very hurt. It was very clear to us that this guy would prove to be a real pain in the ass.

"Are you okay, Ranma?" Akane asked, approaching the lad who now shook his head.

"That cheating bastard..." he growled.

"Stop talking, everyone," Camille said. "If we are to catch this monster, we must try to listen to his moves..."

We did as the succubus suggested and remained silent as a grave. However, the monster moved in ways we didn't understand and after a few instants, it attacked again. This time, Sora was the target. The boy flew straight against the ceiling and hit his head with the chandelier. Disoriented by the blow, he started to fall, unable to recover in midair. Luckily, Catherine caught him before he broke his head upon hitting the ground.

"Got ya!" she said. "Don't worry, Sora. You're all right."

"I'll be even better when we kill this idiot..." Sora replied, rubbing his head.

"What stench..." Octavius grunted all of a sudden. He looked around in alarm and warned: "Below your feet! Look out!"

Either the monster was wilder than we believed or it had some pals aiding it. A bunch of dark, fiery balls came out of the ground and attacked us. The weird thing was that they had eyes and moved against us extraordinarily accurately, as if they were alive. I was almost scorched by one of the little bastards. It passed right beside my left leg and I could tell it was flaming hot. Akane wasn't as lucky as me: she was reached by one of these enemies and caught fire as if someone had attacked her with a flame thrower. She let out a chilling wail that made me quite angry against the Heartless. That was it. Now it was going to get some quality beating...

Fortunately, our mages were well on their guards and instantly aided Akane. Catherine and Donald put out the fire that was gnawing her with an icy breeze, while Tish used healing magic to cure her burns. Naturally, Ranma became insane with rage and started to pound on the ground like there was no tomorrow. Chances were, however, that he wouldn't stop the stupid fireballs from emerging with just that tantrum...

"Dude, stop going berserk and use your head!" I yelled to him. "Better to—" I then noticed one of those idiots behind his back. I rushed to him and threw him aside before the flaming ball could hit him. I turned to mist just before the jerk hit me, fortunately.

I'd have to talk to him later. All that mattered at that moment was to find the monster before it reduced all of us to ashes with his attacks. At least some of us had it easy. Siegfried and Goofy had their shields, so that helped them a lot. The mages could shrink down the fireballs to naught with an icy blast. But the others could only hope not to get caught by one of the fireballs... or by the Heartless monster, for that matter, which had been dealing out random punches here and there.

Luck was that what would save us this time. Mimicking the Heartless, Beast started to swipe the air about him every now and then, thinking that eventually the enemy would foolishly run into one of his attacks. Personally, I thought this was a bit too desperate. It was like a hundred to one chance that he would suddenly score upon a hit. Nevertheless, Beast was determined to win the lottery at that time.

I was seconds away from telling him to stop punching as if he were having a seizure and to start thinking of something, when I saw how his claw hit something.

"There you are!!" our companion roared and pounced upon the fiend like a lion upon a zebra.

"Beast's got it!" I yelled and rushed to help the creature. I didn't swing my scythe furiously at the air about Beast just like that: I had to be very careful about the place that I attacked. One false move and I would end up cutting up the guy's head.

This time, however, I didn't mess up. Beast and I did a good job at hurting the monster. I could hear it roaring in pain with every accurate swing I gave. Donald, Goofy, and Sora managed to dodge the surrounding fireballs and lent us a hand as well. The rest of my friends were still too busy dodging the living projectiles and helping those most defenseless. Well, I reckoned five of us could concentrate on beating the Heartless to death while the others drew its fire.

The foe suddenly became visible. It let out a deafening roar again and knocked us back with a swipe from its deadly claws. It managed to get a hold of Sora. He then spun the kid at a tremendous speed and threw him against one of the pillars. The hit would crush him... Better to have someone who could eventually recover break the impact. I ran as fast as I could to him and managed to hold him as he flew through the air. The momentum he had dragged me along with him and, as I was expecting, I was the one who took the blow against the column and, moreover, I was crushed by Sora. The boy was hurt, but at least not as bad as he would've been without Adrian, the cushion. He knocked both the air and – I'm serious – the laughter out of me.

"Oh, dang..." Sora whined. "Damn it, Adrian, this isn't funny!"

"I know!" I replied, unable to hold my laughter. "It hurts! It hurts a lot! I think I broke some ribs!"

"Stop joking!"

"Not joking! Ahh! It hurts when I laugh!"

Please don't ask me why that happens. I seriously have no freaking idea. Sometimes my laughs just get the best of me.

"...You're not playing? You're hurt?" he asked, as he saw me twitching.

"It hurts a lot!" I exclaimed, as my body healed itself. That's the advantage of being a vampire, like I've said... But when it comes to fixing broken bones, you haven't got the least idea of how bad the pain is. "Oh, God, it hurts!"

"...You better not be joking!" Sora said as he put himself on guard and remained close to me. Sadly, though, the Heartless had turned invisible again. I could see that the kid was truly concerned about me. I suppose he must've thought I was really bad from all the frantic laughter. "...Better said, I hope you are..."

"Not joking, I told you! Ahh!" At last the final broken bone was restored. That had hurt like hell, especially since I had not fed enough. At least I was in one piece again. Trying to calm down my chuckling, I managed to get up. "Okay... I'm better now..."

"What was that all about??"

"Don't ask right now... just get to fighting."

"All right..."

I felt the wind right before the blow fell. I grabbed Sora and threw both of us at the ground just in time to avoid getting our faces re-arranged by the monster. The idiot at least gave its position away. I hit it in the stomach and then I activated the spring under my sleeve, thus thrusting my short sword into it. The fiend stepped back and groaned, turning visible once again. I retrieved my blade and then Sora and I started to attack it once more. This time, Catherine and Leon joined the party. The Valkyrie speared the monster repeatedly, while Leon attacked with a combination of lethal sword swings and potent fire spells to give him a taste of its own medicine.

Once again, the maddened Heartless unleashed a potent swing, driving us back. And again, it got a hold of Sora. I wasn't precisely in the mood of getting my ribs smashed again, so I thought of something else... I remained alert and ready to see against which pillar the monster would throw Sora against. I could tell it was going to do that, because it was spinning him like mad for the second time. Once I saw the boy fly through the air, I ran as quickly as I could to the column destined to kill Sora. I hastily buried my scythe on one of its sides and held it with my hands, keeping my body in a horizontal position, stretching my legs at the flying wonder.

"Sora, grab my legs!!" I yelled as the boy flew like a rocket at me.

Sora's reflexes were sharp enough, thankfully, and he got a hold of me. The impulse he had gained coupled with my own movements helped me swing him around the pillar and throw him back. However, my stomach crashed against the column, and while I didn't break anything this time, I was left out of air... and I began to chuckle again.

I then realized Sora had angled his body upwards and had managed to fly straight up to the chandelier. He landed safely there, luckily. Once all the way up there, he started to rock himself back and forth and caused the chandelier to start spinning violently.

"Everyone, get away from the monster and behind the pillars!" Sora exclaimed. Thankfully, the Heartless was still visible.

Holding firmly to one of the chains that held it attached to the ceiling, Sora cut the other one and descended like a meteor, remaining just a few inches above the ground. The initial spin and the fall caused the chandelier to move in circles like the spiked ball of a knight. This was a strange picture and a crazy plan, but it actually worked. The Heartless, surprised by our young friends' antics, was unable to move out of the way of the spinning chandelier. The blow would've killed an elephant. The monster flew against one of the walls and made a hole in it upon impact. The chandelier's chain broke seconds afterwards. Sora leapt just in time to avoid getting crushed by the giant adornment.

The enemy was extremely weak now. Catherine conjured an icy spell to bind its hands and legs to the wall to keep it from escaping. Incapable to move, the Heartless was defenseless against Beast, who rushed at it with blind fury and drove a killing fist right through its belly.

The Heartless let out a final, agonic roar before collapsing on the ground. It then vanished into thin air. Finally we had defeated that jerk. It had been one of the most annoying Heartless I had faced so far. It had been a real long time since I had been so badly injured. I needed a fix of blood real bad this time. And if I sound like a junkie to you, it's because I am, damn it!

"What the hell was that, Sora?" Ken laughed, approaching the kid, patting his back. "That was wicked, man!"

"I... I don't know. I just thought of doing that. Kind of worked, huh?" he chuckled.

"You're full of surprises, Sora," Ryu added. "Resourcefulness is a very important trait every fighter must have, and you have plenty."

"How are you doing, crazy vampire?" Demean asked, walking towards me. "I heard your frantic laughter. It has been a while since I detected such intensity in it... What ever happened to you?"

"I broke some ribs..." I muttered, still feeling a bit woozy after that last blow on my stomach. "I hate it when my bones get fixed. It hurts like hell."

"I could tell..."

"You know so. Like that time when you broke my foot!"

"That was an accident! Stop rubbing it in my face!"

"Never! Not until you—DR. DOUCHE!!" I exclaimed. He had returned.

They all turned to see him as he stood in the room's exit, watching us still and in silence.

"You... XALDIN!!" Beast roared, furious like never before. "I'll get you!"

As an answer, Dr. Douche summoned a small army of Nobodies to him, and then he... What do you think he did? Seriously, I want you take a freaking guess. You'll never be able to come up with the ingenious plan he machinated after unleashing that wave of foes upon us. It's the last thing you'll think about.

...He vanished, of course! What do we have for the winners? Why, we have a unique, invaluable, golden, "Bullshit" trophy!

"He's gone!" Merryck shouted. Yeah, he's now the proud owner of the freaking prize. "What a nerve! A general runs from the field of battle leaving his army behind! What a coward!"

"We'll deal with him later, Merryck!" Siegfried shouted. "Dr. Douche bag indeed!"

"Curse later, my boy," Camille said. "We must first overcome this final struggle."

The blood would have to wait. I didn't feel like joking anymore for the time being. I just wanted to get that over with and drink a little. I was really, really thirsty... and because of that, I wouldn't be able to fight as fiercely as always. I was weak. Still, if Siegfried or Merryck could do it...

There were a lot of samurai-like warriors. Some others were creatures that resembled small dragons that traveled through the ground and there were others that seemed like... a pair of shoes. But they changed into other various forms, so they weren't that ridiculous. Well, in a few words, they were all enemies we had faced before and who weren't quite as terrible as Gixadia's lackeys. Yet I wasn't precisely in good shape... And I think the Nobodies noticed this, too, because I was attacked by seven of them before I could count the rest of them.

I was unable to turn to mist. I simply didn't have enough energy to do that. I would have to get out of this one with my wits alone...

One of the samurais ran at me and tried to run me through with hits blade. I moved the sword aside with my scythe and then stabbed it on the face with my own. Once it was dead, I removed my blade and readied myself for the next wave of enemies.

Next, I was attacked by two of the shape-shifting Nobodies and two dragons. These ones attacked me from underneath the ground, while the other foes tried to chop my head off by turning to axes and swinging themselves at my neck. I did have much more trouble when escaping from these guys. The dragons had cornered me and were keeping me from rolling underneath the other Nobodies. My only option was to jump as high as I could away from them. While I was above the shape-shifting monsters, I swung my scythe downward and managed to slice one in half. However, I was received by two more samurais who swung their katanas at me very quickly. I succeeded in fending off most of the attacks, but I was cut a few times by the ruthless enemies.

Most of my friends were too busy dealing with their own opponents. Besides, Adrian asks help from no one... unless he really, really needs it. Yet I didn't have to ask for a thing, because Merryck was well aware of my predicament. He quickly made his way through the ruckus and attacked the samurai foes from behind. He cut their ankles with a swift blow. Afterwards he rolled through them and then made his stand alongside me.

"You don't seem to be in very good shape, Mr. Adrian," he observed. "I thought perhaps you would welcome a bit of help."

"Me? Help? How preposterous!" I began, but didn't have the will to continue. "...Screw it. I'm glad you came."

Merryck easily intercepted the dragons on the ground and cut their bodies in half without much trouble. It was clear he had been practicing during all this time... Anyway, that left me standing against the shape-shifting demon and the samurais – who were badly wounded and wouldn't present much of a challenge anymore. But we were far from done, because there were still plenty of Nobodies sitting in the bench – and by sitting in the bench, I mean that they popped out of nowhere.

The hobbit and I fought fiercely against the remaining foes, hoping we would take care of the fiends before their companions joined them. By the look of things, we would soon be attacked by three more samurais, two shape-shifting Nobodies, and four dragons. But luckily, we had backup of our own.

As the trio of katana-wielding warriors approached us, Siegfried charged against them and rammed one of them with his shield. The others counterattacked, yet the lad out-witted them with his sword and killed them, while Merryck took care of the one he had knocked down. We all regrouped after that.

"You're not fighting your best, Adrian..." Siegfried said. "Is the thirst really that bad?"

"Well, what do you think?" I retorted.

"Hmm. Don't worry. We'll get you out of this."

Another samurai attacked Siegfried. He used his shield to pin the enemy's blade on the ground and then cut its throat. Merryck easily got through the enemies' blows. I was really very impressed with him. I mean, I know he's a difficult target to hit because of his size, but he had grown extremely agile. And Siegfried had gotten really good, too. These two perhaps lacked inhuman strength, but the hobbit made it up in agility and elusiveness and Siegfried compensated his weakness by being smart and taking advantage of perhaps not-so-obvious weak points.

We were doing all right, but there were still many Nobodies to kill. Dr. Douche really lived up to his name. It's not like I cared for the Nobodies, but sending your troops to die while you slither away to drink tea is to be an epic bastard. Still, we should have learned that by now: Organization XIII jerks should be jumped the moment they are spotted.

Soon, Demean and Tish joined our private party as well. As a dragon approached me and prepared to bite me, the elf shot a killing arrow at its heart – or the place where its heart should be. Four other enemies went after him. The fairy blinded two of them with an intense light and set the other ones on fire, giving Demean enough time to finish them with his daggers. Then, he calmly walked to our side. His coming to us meant that either the others were doing really good on their own or I looked like major crap and was fighting worse than I thought. At least I could still cure my wounds.

See, actually, that's a disadvantage when you're a vampire. Since you can heal by yourself, the mages don't give a crap about you. "He can mend by himself; don't waste your magic on him." They're partially right, I know, but it's not like I don't need... fuel to heal. Oh, well... I guess I shouldn't be complaining. At least I can heal... But I was so thirsty!

Anyway, the fight got a lot easier with Demean and Tish by our side. The little fairy enchanted our weapons with fire and ice: Merryck and Demean got the flames and Siegfried and I received the chill. We alternated blows to weaken the Nobodies' weapons. The foes fell after just a few hits. It had been an excellent move by Tish.

The Nobodies were attacking from all sides, but we were watching over each others' backs. Their strikes were ineffective. And just when I thought things couldn't get worse for the Nobodies, a flaming, brutal blow killed five of them in an instant. Once the fire dissipated, we saw Wilheim sheathing his sword and joining us.

"Good to see you, brother," Siegfried said with a confident chuckle.

"I reckon you do not need my help, but I will fight by your side either way," Will replied.

"What about the Misses?" I questioned.

"She is tearing Nobodies apart alongside Baiken and Jam. She can take care of herself."

"And Sora?"

"Beast, Donald, Goofy, and himself make quite the team. Do not worry about our friends, Adrian. You are the one on worst shape right now."

"...Woot."

Naturally, Wilheim didn't need any spell cast on his blade. He managed to do very well with Renamark's own flames. I truly welcomed the brute strength. It was just what we needed to balance the team.

After that, we didn't fight for much longer. We quickly took care of the rest of the Nobodies on our side, while the rest of the guys killed their own opponents. Sora and Beast gave quite the spectacle with the last wave of Nobodies. The creature launched three of them into the air and Sora juggled them with repeated blows from his blade. Back on the ground, Beast launched a ferocious roar which paralyzed the remaining foes. Then, they switched targets; Sora threw the Keyblade at the frozen foes, beheading them effortlessly, while Beast dismembered the airborne enemies with his claws. And when the last Nobody died, the room changed again, returning to normal. Everything went back to being elegant and pretty again. Even the chandelier reappeared on the ceiling without a notch on its chains.

And at last, it was done. No more Nobodies or Heartless. We were finished. I needed to rest a bit. I felt as if I had been fighting for three days straight without any rest. I had lost a lot of blood and needed to recover it very badly.

"We did it," Sora said, with a tired, yet triumphant sigh. "These fights seemed to last forever... How's Belle doing?"

Beast looked at the balcony and saw that Belle had come into the Ball room and was doing just fine. She was the only one of us without a scratch. She sighed and approached Beast.

"Are you okay?" she mumbled.

"I'm... I'm fine... Belle," the creature answered. "Belle, I'm sorry... It wasn't my intention to... I was confused, and... Well..."

"I understand, Beast," Belle said in a comforting tone, grabbing his paw with tenderness. "I forgive you."

"Belle... Thank you..."

"But you still need to learn to control your temper. You've got to work a lot on that. Understood?"

"I, uh... yeah... I will..." Beast muttered apologetically.

"I am glad all turned out all right," Wilheim said. "It seems all is well. An apology from the heart is always a must when speaking to the woman you love. I suggest we leave them be for a while."

Speaking of apologies... I didn't love Baiken (in that way), but I sure as hell owed her an apology. Just this once. And moreover, if Felicia or Camille saw me as a good little boy, perhaps they would pity me and allow me to drink a bit... Yeah: I would go THAT far.

"Will, help me up," I said. Perhaps if his beloved disciple was with me she wouldn't break my jaw. "I can barely walk right now."

"You look terrible, Adrian," he replied, allowing me to lean on his shoulder. "I know the feeling... Once, I did not feed for a month."

"Yeah, I heard that story before... Take me to fun-aunt-Baiken: I'm gonna do something I've never done... I'm going to apologize."

"...You've never apologized before?"

"...Well, I did once, when I got my scar. You see, I was a detective, and—"

"I'm glad you are in high spirits again, but, for your sake, I would concentrate on that apology for now..." he chuckled.

We approached Ukyo, Jam, and Baiken. Wilheim's girlfriend almost screamed when she saw me.

"My God, Adrian, you look awful!" she pointed out.

"I was made this way... Can't help to be ugly."

"Or fucking stupid," Baiken added. That would be the last freebie I'd let her have.

"Okay, I messed up, I admit it this time," I retorted. "I'm sorry."

Man, I had acquired a terrible reputation through the course of this adventure... Ukyo and Jam looked at me as if hell had frozen over. But Baiken was not impressed.

"Saying you're sorry will be worth for shit, because you're just going to keep on behaving like an asshole," she snarled.

"...But I'm such a nice guy," I said with a grin. But before she could walk out on me (or Ukyo and Jam could go back to convincing themselves I was mentally unstable), I added: "I promise I won't bother you anymore during fights."

"Right. During fights," she grumbled, rolling her eye.

"Well, it's not like you're going to get a better deal right now, Baiken," Jam giggled.

"Huzzah. Hip-hip, fuck you."

I couldn't help letting out a laugh. I've got to give the woman credit: she can come up with good insults. No wonder she always gets Will to laugh, taking into account that he's an impressionable dummy. But I regretted my chuckle instantly, because my ribs hurt right then, which caused me to laugh even more... You can imagine the vicious circle.

"See what I'm talking about? He can't stay serious for a fucking minute."

"It's not that! It hurts!" I complained, twitching and squirming as I did. Wilheim laid me on the ground and I kept laughing uncontrollably.

"I'm not in the mood of being near you two," Baiken said, referring to me and Jam, obviously.

"Calm down, Baiken..." Ukyo muttered as the woman walked away. With a sigh, she kneeled by my side. "Where does it hurt?"

"He's not joking?" Jam asked, raising an eyebrow, as the rest of our friends approached.

"Wow, you look in terrible shape, Adrian," Felicia said. "But since you're laughing, I guess it can't be that bad..."

"I broke my ribs a while ago! It still hurts! This is all your fault!" I exclaimed.

"My fault??"

"If you would've given me some blood when I asked, I wouldn't be like this!" I argued.

Felicia gulped and looked away in shame. Everything was going wrong that night...

"Ahh! Can't you tell when I'm joking, woman??" I cried. "I didn't mean that last part... It does hurt, but it isn't your fault. Sheesh, I thought you had that figured out by now!"

"Don't scare me like that!" she meowed in relief.

"I'll help him up," Sora offered. "Now that we've fixed things here, I think we should rest for a while before we search for the keyhole... Is that okay with you guys?"

"You're the one who can lock those things up, so you're in charge, sweetheart," Jam answered. And then she added, turning to me: "You're in pain: you can't speak."

"Aww..." I moaned. Sora's blushing face was an excellent opening for another joke.

"Take it easy, my friend. You will soon be able to suffocate Sora with your impertinence again," Wilheim chuckled.

"Thanks, Will," the kid grumbled.

"Impertinence for the win!" I said as Sora and I went ahead of our friends. By the look of things, Beast and Belle would stay there a bit longer. Wouldn't want to interrupt them...

"Adrian, seriously... when are you going to stop bothering me about Jam?" he whispered once no one else was listening.

"Today's Tuesday... Never!" I laughed. I waited for a moment to see how he would react... When I saw him shake his head and sigh, I added: "Come on, it's just a bit of fun! And my jokes were that which caused Jam to give you that sweet kiss, rascal."

"Yeah, but you can get me into a lot of trouble, you know," he replied. "If you pull one of those jokes around when we find Kairi, then—"

"Easy, Sora: I promise – for real – that I'll stop when we find Kairi." He turned to me with a surprised glance. "Hey, I just want to mess with you a bit, but I don't like to hurt other people. Trust me on this. I wouldn't want to get you into that sort of trouble."

"...You promise?"

"Yeah, I promise."

"Like, really, really, promise?"

"Yeah, yeah! I'm just a buffoon, but I'm not related to Dr. Douche."

"Okay... thanks, Adrian. Even though you'll still make my life impossible."

"I also promise you that," I said and he let out a relieved chuckle.

_(Change of scene)_

Well, after that, Camille gave me some of her blood and I was back on my feet and as good as new. Felicia also offered a bit of her blood, but I told her not to worry about it. I didn't want her to feel obligated in any way. I still felt kind of bad that she had mistaken my joke for a serious statement...

Anyway, following that we looked for the keyhole... well, the object that would lead us to the keyhole. We didn't look for long, because we all had the same hunch as to where the key to finding the keyhole would be. We headed for Beast's room and examined his rose. We were not surprised when it began to resonate as Sora pointed the Keyblade at it. The keyhole appeared and the kid did his thing. Finally, we were done at that place.

"We have to keep searching for more keyholes," Goofy told Belle and Beast. "So we'll have to be going soon..."

"But we'll come back to check on you," Donald assured. "Just be sure to keep out of trouble. Watch out for Organization XIII, okay?"

"Don't worry. I won't allow them to catch me off guard again," Beast said.

Well, I guess there's not much else to tell for now. Except... perhaps I can interest you in a little story? Yes! Let me tell you how I got my scar.

It's a sad tale, actually. See, I used to be a blacksmith. My wife and boy had recently passed away. My child had gotten sick and had fallen to a respiratory disease and my wife was unable to bear the loss. She ended up committing suicide. Despite all this, I didn't stop working. One day, while I was in my workshop, a man came, saying that he was my father, and that he would do anything for me. I didn't ask anything from him and he left. That very same evening, a friar came (the very same one that had buried my wife), telling me that my father was heading to the crusades and that I should go with him and try to attain forgiveness for my wife, because, since she had ended with her own life, she would be unable to enter Heaven. I noticed he had stolen my wife's crucifix and went on a rampage. I killed him and burnt my workshop and then I followed my father...

Hmm... This sounds strangely familiar. DANG!! That's straight from "Kingdom of Heaven"! Oh, well, whatever: I was a knife juggler and I screwed up in one of my acts.

You don't believe me? AGAIN? Well, I'm not in the mood of being around skeptics. I don't have to take this from you! I was in 'Nam!

...Anyway, I hope I'll be able to see you again. Until then, take it easy. This is Adrian... signing off.


	17. Chapter 16: Frights and Jingles

Hello, everyone.

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update again... Work's been a bit tough lately.

Once more, a character makes her first appearance in this chapter - a character that belongs to _Minako the Dragon Maiden of DW.  
_

Either way, this chapter is a little bit special, since I would like to dedicate it. I know he never read my stories and he probably wouldn't have liked them... Nonetheless, this chapter is dedicated to the memory of my grandfather, who passed away on July 22nd, 2009. It is the least – and perhaps the only thing – I can do for him now. I will forever miss you, Grandpa.

That's it, for now. I hope you all enjoy.

_Chapter Sixteen: Frights and __Jingles_

_Narrator: Sakura_

Two words: culinary relief.

That's what I thought when Jam had decided to ride on our ship. I guess she sort of needed a rest from Baiken, even though she claimed she was a bit disappointed, because she wouldn't get to train with Ukyo (go figure). But that meant REAL food for us. Last time, we didn't have either her or Ukyo on our ship... We only had Akane. Luckily, Ken had insisted on cooking the whole time, arguing that he wouldn't be able to call himself a gentleman if he let her do all the work. That led to a sandwich festival. Yet I'm sure it was WAY better than to taste Akane's cooking... I did it once. I still have nightmares about the days that followed after I ate that stew of doom...

But Jam was a professional, thank the Lord. And when we told her all about our ordeal, she pampered us with delicious, abundant food. Boy, was I sorry for the other guys... Wait a minute... Never mind; they had Ukyo, and I had heard that the hobbit was a good cook, as well. They were safe, all right... and so were we, and that was the important part.

Besides, I hate to admit it, but it was kind of fun to see Sora act all stupid when Jam was around, and she loved to tease him. Yet more than that, I think that Jam harbored certain tenderness toward our young hero and she messed with him because she cared for him. Of course, this led Adrian to keep on pulling jokes on the poor guy...

Nevertheless, like I said, Jam only played with Sora. The way I saw it – what my feminine intuition told me, anyway – was that she had her eye on someone else. To Sora's disappointment (because they had sort of a macho-alpha kind of competition concerning Jam), that someone was Siegfried. Though they barely talked to each other, I could see them giving each other 'those' looks every now and then. I guessed it was only a matter of time.

Anyway, by the look of things, our next destination would be Halloween Town. I was sort of excited to go back there... that's where it all started for me. That was where I met Ryoga for the first time... It seemed like such a long time ago. Back then, we didn't know the magnitude of the journey we would – somewhat involuntarily, I confess – embark on. We didn't know anything about the Heartless... all I wanted to do, at that time, was to get out of that place and find Ryu. Never once did I think I would find my future boyfriend in such a place...

_(Change of scene)_

We would reach Halloween Town in a few hours. To kiss our rest good-bye, Jam fixed us a nice, healthy meal. I was sure going to miss her cooking... if she left, that is.

"Boy, oh, boy!" Donald exclaimed with delight as he ate. "I don't think I'll ever get tired of this... I'm glad you came with us, Jam."

"Well, I don't care," Adrian intervened. "It's not like I can eat any of this..."

"Really?" Felicia said. "I know you can't eat, but... isn't there like a little taste of the food in my blood, or something?" She asked, since she had been the vampire's life support, 'cause Camille was on the other ship.

"It's hardly noticeable," he answered.

"What a shame for you," Sora said with a grin.

"Shush! Quit drooling and get back to eating!"

"I'm not...! Ah, why bother?" the boy sighed and blushed, while the rest of us laughed.

"At least try to defend yourself, Sora," Goofy chuckled.

"I'll just have to beat him up, I guess."

"What is it with you people resorting to violence when you don't have enough intelligence to make a comeback?!" Adrian exclaimed. "I know you're stupid because Jam is here, but—" before he could say more, Sora made good on his word and kicked him on the shin. "Ouch! That doesn't change the fact that you're drooling over Jam!"

"Give Sora a rest, Adrian, or I'll have to beat you up, too," Jam intervened. "Don't pay attention to him, sweetie," she told Sora. What a shameless flirt... But, again, it was fun to watch Sora smile like an idiot and turn all red.

"You're a sissy..." the vampire chuckled, poking the kid on the back.

"Boys will be boys," I mused.

"Ukyo told me I would get used to this sort of behavior," Catherine ventured to say. "But after meeting this vampire, I think he'll hardly stop surprising me."

"As long as he stops pissing off dangerous people, he can surprise me all he wants," Felicia said.

"But she's so fun when she gets mad!" Adrian laughed.

"No, she's not!" we all replied. Only Jam kept quiet and smiled.

"Ah, you bunch of pansies. Does she really scare you that much?"

"Haven't you seen how strong she is?" Ryoga asked.

"I don't care: I'm faster than her."

"It doesn't matter if it's Baiken or Octavius, huh? You just have to piss somebody off," Leon grumbled.

"Baiken is all talk. It's fun because she gets mad over nothing. Have I insulted her? Have I insulted her even once?"

"Whatever, dude; it's not fun for the rest of us," Sora said.

"Bah. Bunch of pansies," the vampire repeated with that grin of his. We all knew he'd keep at it... it was useless to argue about it any longer.

"I have to say, I had a very different idea about vampires," Catherine said.

"You thought they were all refined, well-mannered, and... sane?" Ryoga hinted with a chuckle.

"I could be a monk if I wanted to!" Adrian retorted.

"No... I had always thought they were evil," Catherine clarified.

"Ah, yeah, well... I think we all had that idea somehow," Felicia admitted. "At least I did... until I met Wilheim, that is. He changed my mind about that."

"We all had the wrong idea, so there's no need to be ashamed," I said.

"Well, you see, the thing is that my boyfriend's told me lots of terrible stories," the Valkyrie explained. "He's a..." Her voice suddenly trailed off and she looked away. "Never mind."

"What is it, Catherine? What about your boyfriend?" Sora gently asked.

"Well, I..." she took a deep breath and looked at us. I could tell that her boyfriend still existed, but she seemed reluctant about speaking of him. Yet finally, she said: "You all seem like tolerant folk... He's an Anima Wolf."

"An Anima Wolf?" I repeated, confused. "What do you mean, an Anima Wolf...? A were-wolf?"

"Something like that, yeah."

"We've got a were-cat, a were-wolf, and a vampire with us... And we put up with Baiken," I giggled, making them all laugh. "It's not like an... Anima Wolf won't be welcome."

"It's just that I thought vampires hated were-wolves and all creatures related to them by appearance or blood," Catherine explained.

"Ah, no, we don't hate were-wolves, because we know they're decent creatures. Right, Adrian?" Felicia replied, glaring at the vampire. I knew what she meant right away.

"Ah, fiddlesticks," he muttered. "Look... I've been trying real hard to be a tad nicer since we met Jon. But you can't deny that the were-wolves hate us as well and that they attack us as soon as they see us."

"You're not joking about that one?" Jam asked.

"No, I'm perfectly serious."

"I don't know much about that..." Siegfried said. "But maybe you should try to talk before you charge at a were-wolf... You might avoid a fight that way."

"Right. Tell that to your brother."

"Huh? What happened to Wilheim?" Goofy questioned.

"I remember," Ryoga intervened. "He told me about that. He was attacked by a were-wolf back when he was a vampire. He tried to ask him to stop, but the were-wolf kept on going..."

"Did he kill him...?" Sora inquired.

"No; he just gave him a beating and THEN he managed to talk to him," Adrian said. "Regarding were-wolves... I admit not all of them are bad. I was wrong about Jon. However, most of them attack us before we can say 'hi'. It's a two-way street. It's not just us, vampires."

"I see... I had never heard this from a vampire's point of view..." Catherine said. "...Did you say Wilheim was attacked by a were-wolf? Was it Jon?"

"No, it was—I mean, yes," Ryoga said. "But it was John with an 'h'; not Jon Talbain – the one Adrian fought."

"The sword he carries... it's called Renamark, right?"

"...You had heard about him, right?" Adrian guessed.

"I know John. He's a friend of mine and of my boyfriend," she explained. "He told us about a vampire he had attacked, who wielded the vampires' ultimate weapon... He told us he defeated him, yet spared his life. As I recall, Wilheim told him that all the hatred between the two races is due to a lack of communication."

"It's... a bit more complicated than that," the vampire said.

"I suppose now's not the time to dig into that. Either way, just know that my boyfriend is a good man..."

"Don't worry: I no longer lunge at were-wolves... or Anima Wolves, for that matter," Adrian assured.

"Well, I sure hope not... Because, where we're going, you'll find plenty of those," I interjected. "You'll have to behave. There are vampires there, too, and they get along just fine with the were-wolves."

"Good for them. I won't have any problems. But things are different in our world – and I just want you all to acknowledge that."

"Take it easy, Adrian," Sora said. "You made your point."

"It's just that you all keep talking as if I'm still the one who starts the fights." We all figured it would be best to change the subject. We could all tell that Adrian wasn't enjoying the conversation and that he could get mad for real.

Either way, it's not like we would have much more time to talk. Felicia soon ran off to the ship's controls and got ready to land. We had arrived, thankfully; I wouldn't have liked to have a heated argument just before meeting Jack...

_(Change of scene)_

Halloween Town seemed rather strange. Imagine me saying that about a place of the sort... What I mean is that the town was riddled with cheery decorations. There were bright lights here and there, candy canes, mistletoe... It appeared that the people of Halloween when in a high Christmas spirit. And that was what puzzled me because, as I recalled, Jack had told us once that Halloween was the only festivity they ever celebrated. Their whole lives revolved around getting ready for next year's Halloween... What was up with the Christmas season all of a sudden?

"I sure wasn't expecting to see something like this..." Sora mumbled. I was trying hard not to chuckle, since he, Donald, and Goofy were wearing their old costumes once again. I would've taken a photo of them, but Sora was already six feet under because Adrian was teasing him the whole time... I gave the little man a break.

"We should go look for Jack," Goofy said. "Maybe he can tell us what's going on."

"It does not matter what sort of festivities they are holding," Octavius said. "What concerns us is the location of the keyhole. Nothing more."

"It's been a long time since I saw Jack, so I'm kind of in the mood of spending some time with him," Felicia growled. "I miss him – that's an emotion. Don't think too hard: it's something you wouldn't understand," she concluded and stormed to the main plaza without saying another word. Even though all of us knew that was coming, none of us were prepared, I guess.

We all remained silent for a few moments. I mean, we could've just kept going alone, because Octavius didn't seem to care at all. He didn't say anything and he didn't even try to run after her. After staying still for a bit, he simply walked to the plaza, with his guard raised, without even uttering a syllable.

"Why are we bringing him along?" Akane grumbled.

"It will be best that we do not try to understand the whims of his heart yet," Camille declared. "For now, let us only rely on his strength. Besides, despite his insufferable behavior, he is a true friend."

"You're always trying to see the positive side of things, aren't you?" Siegfried asked.

"Yes, but make no mistake: I cannot stand him when he acts like that."

"Well... Let's try to be cheery! It's Christmas! I guess..." Sora said.

"Whatever the case, we should stop talking and catch up with them before they get into trouble," Ukyo suggested.

"Maybe we should stay away from them when they do get into trouble..." Ryoga said.

"You know what I mean, jackass."

"Hey, take it easy on him, Ukyo," I said.

"The 'jackass' part is because he's standing below a mistletoe, you know," my friend added.

"I am?" Ryoga muttered.

"You are a jackass!" I chuckled. I raced to him and planted him a big kiss. It had been a long time since I had the opportunity (not to say excuse) to do that.

"You folks are weird..." Catherine murmured. "After that little stunt you're all still in a good mood..."

"We'll talk to them later. There's nothing we can do about it for now," I said. "I'm not going to let Octavius spoil our visit. That's the Heartless' job."

"And it doesn't look like they've gotten here yet," Donald added. "Let's just relax for a while. Let's go find Jack."

But before we could move on, a sudden bark made us look back. I let out a giggle as I saw a ghostly dog approaching us. It was Jack's pet... Its friendly disposition and bright red nose always made me forget he was a phantom. To me, he was just a pretty pooch.

"Zero!" I cried as it jumped up and down and licked my face. "Hi, boy!"

"Hey, Zero!" Sora greeted. The little ghost-puppy seemed really happy to see all of us.

"I know you guys warned me about this place, but still, it's a mind-fuck," Baiken sighed.

"Come on, be nice... They're all good creatures," Ukyo assured.

"This might speed things up a bit," Sora said. "Come on, boy! Take us to Jack!"

The pooch barked and headed to the plaza. I love smart animals.

Amazingly, there was no one in the streets. Oh, and let's not forget that it was already dark, which made it twice as weird. I didn't get worried, though... the Christmas decorations meant everything was okay. At least, that's what I wanted to think... Of course, not that there's anything right about having a candy cane hanging from a guillotine... Or a garland hanging from the gallows...

"Well... at least Felicia and Octavius haven't run off too far," Ranma muttered, trying to find a positive side for all this spooky mess.

"Okay... this just took a turn from curious to downright scary," Jam murmured. "I'm a bit freaked out here..."

"I'm okay, but I'm perfectly serious on this one: this is the craziest place I've ever seen in my life," Adrian said. "Although that guillotine looks familiar... You know, there was this one time I—"

"Adrian, spare the tale about your scar for now, please," Leon begged. "We have enough tension with Felicia and Octavius right now."

"Aren't you the least bit curious?" the vampire asked, toying with his fingers. He was incorrigible.

"What's that thing on the sky?" asked Catherine as she pointed to what appeared to be a coffin pulled by flying skeleton reindeers. Yeah... if none of this makes sense to you, don't worry: it didn't have any back then; it's impossible for it to have any now.

"People... what the hell??" Baiken grumbled, beginning to run out of patience again.

"This is new for us too, all right?" Tish said, beginning to get annoyed.

"Hey, that's Jack!" Goofy yelled enthusiastically.

Indeed, our good friend Mr. Skellington was piloting that unearthly sleigh. He looked down at us and waved happily. Following that, he landed on a wooden runway that seemed most recently built. It was funny how I didn't notice it earlier... Probably because it was right next to the cheery guillotine.

"Hello, fellows!" Jack greeted happily as he stepped out of the coffin. "Merry Christmas!"

"Yeah, we can see that..." Sora said, as he shook our friend's bony hand. "Merry Christmas to you, too."

"How delightful to meet you again, Jack, sir," Merryck added. "It's nice to see you all enjoy the spirit of Christmas as well... But, pardon me if I'm mistaken: I thought you only celebrated Halloween."

"Not this year, my friend!" Jack said, as he shook hands with each and every one of us. "It's nice to see most of you are here for the holidays! But... where are Dante, Seiya, and the others?"

"We have not found them yet," Demean answered. "Believe us, Jack: it is not our intention to spoil your festivity, but we need to speak: the Heartless have returned."

"The Heartless?" Jack blurted. "Are you serious? Oh, those awful creatures! And to think Christmas is almost here! They sure know how to ruin everything... Well, I'm not going to let them spoil our moment!"

"Well, we all hope when can help you there, Jack," I said.

"Thank you very much... It's great to see you again, Sakura," he answered with that charming (yet somewhat scary) smile of his. "Oh, I see you've brought some new friends along with you... You should've said so in the first place. Welcome to Halloween Town! I truly hope you'll enjoy your stay here... It's a shame that you're here partly to get rid of the Heartless, though."

"Well, I..." Baiken started. However, Ukyo gave her a pleading look... not to mention that she looked somewhat tired of bitching all the time. "Okay, all right. No problem, Jack."

"I'll take you to Dr. Finkelstein's house. I have to go and see the modification's he's done to the reindeers. These are just prototypes," he added and took the lead. "You remember where it is, right? Come on! Share the spirit! Right now, everyone is at their homes, thinking about present ideas and decorating! They're all getting ready for the big day!"

"That explains why no one's around... that's a relief," Ryu said.

We did as he told us. However, as most of my friends went right after him, I lingered back a bit... I noticed Wilheim had a suspicious look on his face. I would've understand worried, baffled, or something like that... As they all went ahead, I grabbed his arm and pulled him back for a few moments.

"What's up with you, Will? Why are you looking so grim?" I asked him.

"Well, it..." Before answering, Wilheim made sure Jack wasn't listening. We backed up a bit more and then he murmured: "I am a bit concerned about Jack's experiments regarding Christmas."

"You mean... him wanting to celebrate Christmas?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow. "What's so wrong with that? Are you like The Grinch, or something?"

"That is not the point," he explained. "Do you remember when we met, in this place? Right before we left, Sally expressed her concern to me. She was worried about the experiments Jack was conducting with the Heartless. You do recall how they turned out, don't you?"

"Yeah, but it's hardly the same thing, Will."

"Perhaps; yet she told me that before he studied the Heartless – before they met us – Jack had already once tried to assume the role of Santa Claus and the episode ended in disaster. According to her, Jack nearly got killed."

"I see..." I mumbled. "Well, I wouldn't worry too much, Willie. It's possible that Jack only wants to give out presents to the people in Halloween Town; that's all. You shouldn't go and pick the worst possible scenario during the first three minutes of our visit, you know. You're starting to become just as negative as Adrian."

"I will take on his word this time: it is not negativism, but realism."

"Don't be like that..." I sighed. Our friends were almost out of sight. We went after them, implicitly deciding to put our little chat on hold. I merely concluded by whispering to him: "We'll keep an eye out just in case," to which he silently nodded.

As we approached Dr. Finkelstein's home, we began to heard the old doctor's angry yells...

"You little devils!!" he cried. "I'll get you all! You ruined my experiment! I'm going to shave your heads and boil you up in oil!" ...Yeah, the Christmas spirit was really booming.

Following that, three children (horrible-looking children, I should add) ran out of the scientist's laboratory, laughing mischievously as they went. I remembered their faces as they ran past us. They used to be Oogie-Boogie's tiny stooges. It seemed to me that they still were up to no good. Anyway, not much we could do about it for the moment. Not the time or the place.

"Dr., try to calm down," Jack said in his most soothing tone. "We've got company."

"I've got to start searching for new assistants," Dr. Finkelstein complained. "First that girl, Sally, and now those three hooligans..." It was not until then that he noticed us. "Ah, it's you again! Such a long time... How have you all been?"

"Sort of busy," Ryoga answered. "The Heartless are back. We're hunting them again."

"Ah, I see... That's unfortunate..." the doctor replied. He actually didn't seem too worried about the news. He didn't even pay that much attention to us. I suppose he was very concentrated on his work.

He wheeled himself to an operating table and called out to Jack. The two of them started to discuss the modifications Dr. Finkelstein thought ought to be done to the skeleton-reindeers. Jack quickly turned to us and signaled us to bear with him for a bit. We gave him a nod and remained silent... it's not like we could do much about it.

They kept on studying some blueprints and started to speak about what Jack would have to do to operate the sleigh properly and all that stuff. A weird name – "Sandy Claws" – came up several times. I was almost sure they meant Santa Claus... It became clear to me that Wilheim had had the right idea about all this. That was certainly not good...

Dr. Finkelstein sighed and opened up his skull and scratched his brains. I shivered a bit upon seeing this again, but remained calm. However, the four that hadn't witnessed this weirdness before became a little stupefied...

"Oh, God..." muttered Catherine, covering her face with repulsion and turning around.

"Eww, eww, eww, eww!!" Jam whispered, doing her best not to raise her high-pitched voice, and instinctively held on to Siegfried. I bet he would've been more grateful if not for the disgusting spectacle.

"Wilheim, what's up with this place??" he murmured to Wilheim, while strategically holding Jam's hand.

"It might be revolting, but these folks are our friends... Try to keep your complaints to yourself," Willie answered.

"Not arguing with that..." Siegfried grumbled, making a face of disgust and said nothing more. For their part, Adrian and Baiken were speechless... Both of them had an expression of bewilderment on their faces... Only that Baiken seemed to be on the verge of puking, while the vampire looked like he could explode into laughs at any moment.

"..Perhaps that will be the thing to do..." Dr. Finkelstein muttered as he turned to us and asked: "Say, what ever happened to your other friend? The man with the red cloak..."

"We haven't seen Vincent in a while," Felicia replied.

"I see..." Again, he became lost in the blueprints. Well, it was sort of a miracle he remembered Vincent.

"Jack..." said a voice behind us. We turned with a relieved expression when we noticed Sally. "Jack, I wanted to—oh, hi!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, Sally. Nice to see you again," I greeted.

"Yes, it is... It's been a long time."

"Sally!" Jack exclaimed. "Did you finish what I asked yet?"

"Oh... about that..." she stuttered. "Well, Jack... I'm not sure if it's going to work..."

"Of course it will!" Jack assured. "I'm sure you can do it! Don't worry about that! I'm certain you'll have it finished before Christmas."

"That's not what I meant..."

"What are you guys talking about?" Sora intervened.

"Sally is making something no Sandy Claws can do without," Jack explained. "Either way, I have to go and ask for his blessing, so we can have the best Christmas."

"You mean... Santa Claus's blessing?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Precisely!"

"Seriously? Santa Claus??" Sora muttered and his eyes began to shine with excitement.

"Jack! Jack!!" hollered a man from outside the laboratory. I remembered that voice... it had been the mayor; and he didn't sound too happy. "Jack, we need your help! Those awful creatures are back! Get away from me! Shoo!"

"It was just a matter of time before this happened," Wilheim sighed. "Thankfully we are here. Let us go put an end to their fun."

"Oh, curse those Heartless..." Jack growled. "Listen, guys; you don't have to do this if you don't want to. I can take care of them by myself."

"Come on, Jack... as if you didn't know us," Sora retorted. "You know we always enjoy a good fight!"

"If you insist..." Mr. Skellington chuckled.

"There we go again..." I muttered to myself as we left the laboratory and put ourselves on guard.

We stepped out into the main plaza and found it infested with those mummy-like Heartless I hadn't missed a bit. They were accompanied by some of the lesser shadows and a small group of gargoyles. By the look of things, the fight wouldn't last very long. We would beat their butts back to hell in no time. The only real problem was Halloween Town's Mayor: the poor guy had backed into a corner and was surrounded by the enemy. He tried to repel the Heartless by asking them to leave through his megaphone... Well, what were you expecting me to say? The chubby mayor was obviously unable to fight back...

That's where we came in. Jack quickly raced to the Mayor's side and fired a black ball of energy at the fiends, destroying them in an instant. Sora jumped high into the sky and came down like a meteor amidst a group of Heartless. He impacted the Keyblade fiercely on the ground, causing a sudden burst that sent the enemies flying up. Once there, some of my friends took their pick to dispose of the Heartless. Octavius blew off the head of the one that was falling nearest to him with his shotgun; Tish powered up one of Demean's arrows with fire and the elf then shot it directly at one of the foe's chest; Catherine hovered at two of them at full speed and skewered them with her spear; Baiken caught one with her claw, pulled it to her and then drove her katana through its belly, and finally, Donald scorched the last of them with a fireball. Afterwards, we all charged against the fiends.

I came face to face with one of the mummies. It twirled its arms about itself, claws sharp and stretched, aiming to cut my upper body. I already knew this attack. I effortlessly ducked under it and tackled the enemy by the waist. Knocking it down, I remained on top of it and then delivered a brutal blow to the head with both hands. I sort of messed up the floor, but I think no one was going to give a damn about it anyway.

Most of the gargoyles tried to remain out of our reach, hurling fireballs at us like there was no tomorrow. Again, we had been there before. We effortlessly dodged the projectiles and countered with some firepower of our own. For her part, Camille took to the skies and obliterated the annoying enemies with swift punches and piercing kicks.

Jack and Sora remained close to the Mayor, protecting him from the oncoming enemies. Mr. Skellington took care of the little shadows and of most of the mummies, while Sora bounced off the gargoyles' projectiles back at them without getting hit once. The Heartless had turned out to be major pushovers. It's all about learning... if the enemy doesn't change its strategy, then it all becomes easy as pie. You can even take the luxury to show off during the fight.

For my part, I was fighting against a mummy right next to the guillotine. The foe kept running around the death machine, trying to catch me. I was simply having fun with it. Besides, it was one of the last Heartless... we would be done very soon. And – for crying out lout – the idiot didn't have the brains to jump through the guillotine's opening to get me. It was just plain stupid fun.

"Oh, I'm sorry!!" Adrian's cry reached my ears and I turned around. He had unleashed his small sword, which had gone right through one of the gargoyles and had killed it. The blade landed just a few inches away from me. And then, right then, my Heartless realized that there was actually a way he could get to me. He stood right in the middle of the guillotine and threw its arm back, ready to throw a punch at me...

It was all perfect. I grabbed the sword and swung it at the guillotine's rope, releasing the blade which came down like a meteor, instantly slicing the Heartless in half.

"Take that!" I laughed aloud.

"Oh, owned!!" Adrian yelled. He had watched everything. "That was sick, Sakura! The way it should always be!"

"I might've gone a bit too far..." I muttered with a mischievous smile.

"Breaking point!!" yelled Ryoga from behind as he unleashed his potent attack and destroyed the Heartless that stood against him with a rain of deadly rocks come from the ground. He then ran to my side, still on his guard. "Are you okay, Sakura?"

"Come on, Ryoga. Worry when there is actually the need to worry," I giggled. "I think you just killed the last of them, to tell the truth. Well done, sweetie," I added, kissing his cheek. He blushed and chuckled like a fool... How much I love my silly, lost boy.

And I had been right. Ryoga had indeed finished the battle with that final attack. We didn't have a single scratch on us. Neither Tish or Donald had to use healing magic on us. It was nice to have had an easy confrontation, for a change. I guess we could only hope that things would stay as easy... Although I have to admit, that a bit of challenge is always somewhat welcomed.

"That was amazing!" Jack exclaimed. "You guys have grown a lot stronger since we last met!"

"It pays off to train," Sora, ever so cocky, replied. "Besides, you've improved a lot, too, Jack."

Sora had already taken enough punishment from Adrian. He had deserved his moment of triumph. Luckily I was very near to him and managed to cover his mouth before he could say a word.

"Give him a break!" I said.

"Aw... party-pooper," he sighed and – miraculously – remained silent.

"Thank you all," the Mayor said, putting on his jolly face. "Hopefully those monsters won't come back. We must make ready for Christmas." He let out a sigh and wiped some sweat off his face. "I'll go back to my house. You fellows make yourselves at home..."

"Don't worry, Mayor. We'll be on the lookout," Jack assured. The fat, little man left us and our friend's face was suddenly filled by concern. "This is bad... One of the reasons I wanted to be in charge of Christmas this year was because I wanted Sandy Claws to take a break... Now, with the Heartless about, I'm not sure that will be possible."

"Yes... it is quite unlikely," Camille said. "I am sorry, Jack."

"Unless..." Mr. Skellington considered and his face lit up for a second. One could almost say that a light bulb appeared over his head. "Of course! Sandy Claws will be safe from the Heartless if he has bodyguards! Maybe you guys are up for the job?"

"Absolutely!"

"No way!"

We all turned to see each other. It seemed that we were somewhat divided in this matter. Jack said nothing more and took a few steps back, realizing that there was undoubtedly going to be an argument about this.

"Gwarsh... what should we do...?" Goofy mumbled.

"Well... we should take care of Santa," Sora said.

"And then ask him to give us lots of toys for being such good boys and girls?" Baiken grumbled. "I don't even like to deal with the Heartless. But I'm here with you, so we might as well as stick to our freaking mission: to find one of the stupid keyholes and lock it."

"But we're also here to help, Baiken," Ukyo countered. "The Heartless are destroying the worlds and we have to stop them from doing any sort of harm."

"I am afraid I stand with Baiken here, Ukyo," Wilheim confessed. "Nothing tells us the Heartless will pursue Noël. We must find the keyhole and seal it."

"I agree," Siegfried added.

"But..." I intervened. "Maybe it'll be easier to find the Heartless if we protect Santa."

"Santa is a great source of... 'good energy'. Let's call it like that," Ken argued. "It's more than likely he will be targeted."

"The Heartless are attracted to the darkness in people's hearts," Demean said. "Yet there is no reason not to think that they will not try to attack a being whose inner light is so great. On the contrary: I believe this will augment their hunger for him."

"We cannot be certain about that, elf," Octavius said. "We must conclude our mission. We cannot entertain ourselves with these small matters."

"Oh, saving Santa's life is a 'small matter'?" Felicia growled. "No wonder no one likes you."

"Um, that was uncalled for..." Ryoga murmured.

"I don't care. You know what? Let's take a vote. Who here wants to see nothing bad happens to Santa AND defeat the Heartless while we're at it?" the were-cat asked and immediately raised her hand.

With a sigh (since the discussion had taken a sudden, nasty turn), I also voted 'yes' on being Santa's bodyguard. Felicia and I were joined by Ryoga, Ranma, Akane, Demean, Tish, Ryu, Ken, Catherine, Ukyo, Merryck, and, of course, Sora. We were the majority.

"I guess that does it," Felicia said. "Thirteen versus ten. We're watching over Santa."

"I'm not against the idea," Jam said. "But I'm not precisely in the mood of body guarding Santa Claus. But, if most of you guys want to do it, I'm fine with that."

"Same here," Leon seconded.

"Yeah, I'm not rooting for anyone, either," Adrian agreed.

"I also have no inconvenient whatsoever," Camille said.

"Aw, phooey," Donald grumbled. "I guess we have no choice."

"Unbelievable... Even the duck is more mature than all of you, people," Baiken growled as she and the ones against the idea of guarding Santa walked away. I was really surprised. I would've expected both Octavius and Baiken to be the group's Grinches, but I certainly didn't think Wilheim and Siegfried would take their side, much less Donald and Goofy.

"Whatever," Sora said (once Baiken was far away, of course). "Anyway: yay! We get to see Santa!"

"I haven't felt this sort of excitement since I was a little boy," Merryck added.

"That makes three of us," I admitted.

"Well, in that case, let's not lose another moment," Jack said, noticing that the discussion had come at an end and that we were still in a cherry mood. "Follow me. You stay and take care of Sally, Zero," he told his little phantom dog.

We exited Halloween Town plaza, but before that, I saw Sally talking to the party-poopers. I guess she was telling them the same things she had told Jack. Well, I'd ask them later about it... Right now, it was probably not a good idea to try to talk to them... Maybe Goofy would tell right away, because he's not the sort of folk that stays mad for long. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen Goofy get mad.

Really, I don't know what got into those guys. This was Santa Claus we were talking about! I know it sounds childish, but hey, put yourselves in our shoes. If there's a pinch of innocence in your heart, you would be pretty excited, too, and there's no way you can deny it... Well, maybe you could. But that would place you with the Grinch-gang. Besides, think about it: it's not like we were going to see the Santa Claus that sits little kids on his lap at the mall. We were going to see the one and only; the real stuff! I know it sounds unbelievable; yet after running into Merlin and Hercules, it was all but impossible.

As we followed Jack through Halloween Town's graveyard, Sora decided to break the silence and said:

"Merryck, do you remember what your first Christmas present was?"

"My first Christmas present?" the hobbit mumbled. "Well, I... Let's see. The first Christmas I recall was when I was six years old... Do you remember, Demean? Tish?"

"For my part, I actually remember your first Christmas," Tish said. "Yet go on. Let us hear the story from your lips."

"Well, the first present I remember was a bag filled with a very simple sort of firework," Merryck said. "It was the type of thing you tossed to the ground and simply made an awfully loud noise. I am most certain that my parent's didn't get those for me, since they were always complaining about the racket I caused. I'm almost sure you're the ones I have to thank for that gift."

"Demean is the one to thank," Tish clarified. "I knew that bag of annoying bursts would drive your mother and father mad."

"They did stay angry with me for a while," Demean confessed, with a chuckle.

"Indeed... And what about you, Sora?" the fairy questioned.

"It was a plastic sword, I think," the boy answered. "And a plastic sort of gaunlet. It was really, really cool... Okay: here's a challenge: what did you two get for Christmas, guys?" he asked the elf and the fairy.

"Dear God! To go back a thousand years is quite a feat," Tish laughed.

"A thousand years?" Catherine asked. "That's... wow..."

"Yes, we know we are old."

"I'm sorry... It's just..."

"It is perfectly all right. We are not offended. We are used to that sort of reaction, Catherine," Demean assured.

"I cannot recall my first Christmas, obviously," Tish said. "But my first memory was not of a gift, but of an archery contest. The first one we witnessed. Or do you remember something before that, Demean?"

"To be perfectly honest, I did not remember the archery contest," the elf laughed. "If you had not mentioned it, it would have remained lost in my memories."

"Ah, that sounds like a lot of fun," Sora said. "You, Catherine?"

"Hmm... Well, the first present I recall receiving was a photograph of my parents, my sister, and I," she replied. "One of the few times we were together. I miss those times... But I don't feel like talking about it. I'm in a good mood right now... I don't wish to spoil things for you, guys."

"It's okay... I guess there will be another time for that," I ventured to say, and afterwards added: "The first gift I remember is a rope. You know, a skipping rope."

"Exercising so young, eh?" Ryoga chuckled.

"You bet. What did you get, silly boy?"

"Hmm... Wow, that's a toughie," my boyfriend sighed. "I think it was a racing car... About three inches small."

"Boys will be boys..."

Sora turned to Ukyo without saying a word, urging her to contribute with his mere stare.

"A spatula," she answered with a smile.

"That was sort of predictable," I joked. "Although I was thinking of a mini-oven or something like that."

"My father taught me to work with real stuff since I was very young. Mini-ovens are for, as Adrian would say, creampuffs."

"Hey, watch it, Kuonji," Jam intervened with a chuckle. "That was my first Christmas gift." Ukyo was unable to contain a few laughs upon hearing this. "Cut it out! I behaved especially good that year to get it!"

"I'm sorry, Jam," Ukyo said.

"It's not my fault you got to learn from the experts firsthand," Jam mumbled, trying to sound offended.

"I said I'm sorry!" Ukyo laughed. "I'm just teasing, I didn't mean that!"

"I made some terrific cookies with that oven," Jam added, pointing at Ukyo with an accusing finger and a funny, "angry" stare.

"That's sweet... you know, the cookie-oven..." Sora muttered.

"Sora, I think they're calling you from over there," Ukyo said, pointing at a tree in front of Jack, with a chuckle.

"You're mean," Jam concluded, while giggling.

"Speaking about Adrian, what did you get?" I asked the crazy vampire.

"Coal," he replied, doing his best to sound perfectly serious. Of course, I burst out in laughter.

"That actually sounds logical," I said. "And the year after that?"

"Coal."

"See what happens when you misbehave?"

"Coal rules. You can build a fire from it. Santa loves me in his own way."

"Yeah, right... Okay, those of you who are missing and are not completely void of a Christmas spirit, let's hear it," I said.

"I got a Karate-Gi," said Ryu, Ranma, AND Akane at the same time.

"You guys are unbelievable!" I laughed aloud as they looked at each other with bright red faces.

"Figures," Ken said. "Well, I got a puppy."

"Oh, a puppy!" Jam exclaimed. "What did you call him?"

"My dad called it Atila," he answered and quickly added: "It was a Doberman."

"Oh... no wonder."

"I got a record," Felicia intervened. "Don't recall much about it... But I do remember that it was about classical music."

"Really? I was thinking you'd get something more pop-like or something," I said.

"I spent some years in an orphanage, with nuns," the cat-woman confessed. "It was unlikely we'd get anything else. But they were all really nice, even though they didn't like anything 'louder' than Holst's Mars."

"Holst is louder than most of the pop-sissy groups of that—" Adrian started to complain, but Felicia hastily shut him up.

"That's off the point! Off the point! We still haven't heard Camille."

"...To be continued," the vampire limited himself to say.

"A dress, I believe," the succubus said.

"A dress? Really?" I said, making a puzzled face. "Wasn't there a doll before that or something of the sort?"

"Remember what I am, my dear child, and you will certainly understand," she answered, with that voice that drives the guys crazy and that makes me very, very nervous.

"Right..."

"It's so nice to hear you all speak about this!" Jack ventured to say. "I can only hope that your Christmas spirit will spread through the town! But let's leave the chit-chat for later... We've arrived!"

We hadn't even noticed, but we had gotten to a circle conformed by many trees. Although there was not a single light post around, we could perfectly see what was before us. It was somewhat weird, but not at all scary. As we stepped into the circle, we looked at the trees' trunks and realized each had a door, and each of these resembled a Holiday. For instance, the one closest to us had a scary looking Jack-o'-Lantern...

"This door leads to the graveyard," Jack explained. "We just took another road to get here."

The other doors were much more welcoming. There was one with the shape of an Easter Egg. I wouldn't be surprised if a giant rabbit sprang out of it at any moment... Okay, maybe I would, but at least I would be half-way prepared. Then, there was four-leaf clover... and finally, there was a door with the shape of a Christmas tree... You know? Since that day, I've always wondered about the Easter Egg and the four-leaf clover doors. What sort of worlds hid behind them? Where there a bunch of Bugs Bunnies obsessed about hiding eggs in Easter Land? A multitude of Leprechauns pinching each other in St. Patrick's Town? It's sort of intriguing... Either way, chances are I'll never find out.

"This is the door we'll be taking," Jack said. "Come on, follow me," he added as he made his way through the door of the Christmas Tree.

"Oh, boy...!" Sora exclaimed, nearly out of breath, and went right after Mr. Skellington. We all followed them, and though most of us went on eagerly, the Grinch-gang _still_ seemed reluctant to come with us. Well, it's not like they had a choice... That's what we all hoped they were thinking, anyway.

There was a bit of darkness for a while, but afterwards, we could all see perfectly what was in front of us and it was... Just what we had expected. Yet even though we all had a notion of what was coming, it was still amazing. For starters, absolutely everything was covered in snow. It was really cold, but we didn't care. There were candy sticks all over the place... but I'm talking about family-sized stuff. The houses about were all cheerfully decorated with Christmas lightning, garlands, and even some poinsettias. Snowmen, frozen lakes, and, of course, Christmas Trees abounded. Smoke rose from the houses' chimneys, which somehow augmented the place's coziness. And finally, there was a delicious smell in the air: cookies. Every where I turned my head, I smelled yummy cookies and cookie dough. I'm talking about the real deal – the stuff that's even better than the cookies that cost you a buck each... Hot, crunchy, sweet... Oh, and chocolate! We could also smell hot chocolate brewing... Jeez, now I'm hungry.

Well, enough of that. I guess you get the picture: it was everything a child has ever dreamed of. Ryoga put his arm around me while staring at the wonderful scenery, and I sighed happily and leaned my head on his shoulder.

"This is incredible," I muttered.

"Yeah, it is..." he agreed. "We ought to find some more mistletoe."

"You should say stuff like that more often, cutie... But if you want to kiss me, there's no need for the stupid plant," I chuckled and with a tern smile, he gave me a sweet kiss.

"This is so cool!" Sora exclaimed.

"I know," Jack said. "And guess what? Sandy Claw's house is right over there," he added, pointing at the biggest and most decorated house, which was right in front of us.

"That's his home? Really??" our young friend said, unable to contain his excitement.

"Well, if he's there, I say we hurry up and get this over with," Donald said, yet he no longer seemed as angry. Actually, he looked somewhat thrilled himself, and so did Goofy. Unfortunately, the same could not be said about the other crabby folk, which sort of made me feel sorry for Ukyo... During Christmas, what you want the most (usually) is to be with your loved ones (I don't care if it wasn't December the twenty-fourth... which we didn't know for sure... it was Christmas Town, so no matter how you looked at it, it was Christmas)... and Wilheim didn't seem the least happy and wasn't the least sociable at that moment.

Well, this sure as hell wasn't the time to be grouchy. There was not much I could do about Octavius and Baiken... The were-bear would surely come up with some over-elaborate response stating his lack of interest in friends/holidays, and I there was no way I was going to tempt my fate by scolding Baiken. Wilheim and Siegfried on the other hand... those I could handle.

I went back and grabbed both boys by the arms and dragged them away from the other two party-poopers.

"What's the matter with you?" Siegfried grumbled, yanking his arm away.

"You guys are acting like complete jerks; that's what's with me," I retorted. "It's about time you two stopped behaving like brats. We're in Christmas town!"

"...Us, behaving like children?" Siegfried said, with a frown.

"Listen to your own words, Sakura," added Wilheim. "It is not us who are behaving like children: we did not w—"

"You know what I mean, so stop," I interrupted harshly. "Look, I understand this type of behavior from Baiken or Octavius, but what is it with you two?"

"Do not judge people so ruthlessly. We all have our reasons and they are all as valid as yours."

"Name them, then."

"For starters, coming here isn't very smart when we just fought against Heartless in Halloween Town," Siegfried said.

"Forget logic for a moment, okay? This isn't about what's the best practical idea. There's something else to it. Don't say there isn't, because I'm not stupid."

Wilheim and Siegfried sighed and looked at each other in silence. A few moments passed before the older of the two answered: "You all seem to forget the true meaning of Christmas."

"Excuse me??" I said, terribly offended by that remark.

"That's right," Siegfried intervened. "For you guys, it's all about visiting Santa. About coming to his house and asking him for lots of goodies. That's the sort of thing a five-year-old would wish for."

"Begging your pardon, you pair of idiots, but that's not what we're aiming for here," I said. "Santa is the most representative form of Christmas: I'll give you that. But that's not the meaning of Christmas for any of us, I can guarantee that."

"You act as if it were that way," Wilheim replied. "Do you want to know the true meaning of Christmas? Simply study the word."

"Oh, now you've—"

"Guys, what's going on?" Ukyo interrupted, noticing the little discussion, which was starting to grow in a very unpleasant way. She approached us as the two fools remained silent and looked away. "What's wrong?"

"Siegfried and Wilheim hate Christmas," I accused.

"Now you're just distorting the truth," Siegfried barked.

"We never said such a thing," Wilheim added, backing his brother up.

"Calm down, you three," Ukyo said. By the tone of her voice, even I hushed. "Listen, Sakura, if they don't like Christmas, it's not our problem—"

"But we never said that!" the two of them said at the same time.

"Wilheim says we all forget the true meaning of Christmas, which – regardless of your religion, Willie – is to spend time with your loved ones," I argued.

"Truly," he grunted.

"...I see..." Ukyo murmured with a thoughtful stare in her eyes. I turned to her and noticed she knew something I didn't. "You guys aren't angry... You're sad, aren't you?"

"No," Siegfried said, with the most unconvincing tone I had ever heard. Wilheim simply sighed and looked away.

"...We could've started from there!" I scolded, feeling overcome by guilt.

"But I still don't get it," Ukyo said. "Why are you guys sad?"

"Is it so hard to understand?" Will sighed. "You should know, Ukyo. I told you about it."

"Remind me again, then, please."

"You figured it out already, so it's sort of useless, right?" Siegfried muttered, yet Wilheim answered her question.

"Siegfried and I were orphans. We did not have a merry Christmas until we turned fifteen. We had two happy holidays with Master Gerard and Miss Anne... Magnus killed them afterwards. I had not had a good holiday since. Perhaps one or two when Siegfried managed to escape from Magnus, but even then, the fear of his return always lurked in our hearts. And the nightmare turned to reality, and my brother was taken from me... I have lived seventy years and I scarcely remember a merry Christmas."

Yep... right then I felt really bad.

There was silence among us for a few moments and then Ukyo said, with a sweet voice:

"You still believe that Christmas is about spending time with your loved ones, don't you?"

"We're orphans, Ukyo," Siegfried replied. "We don't have a family. The only mother and father we knew were killed by that son of a bitch..."

"We have no joyous memories. Hence we cannot be happy about a holiday that has meant nothing to us," Wilheim concluded.

"Guys... you have to let the past go," she said. "If you hold on to those sorts of thoughts, sadness won't ever leave..." She approached Wilheim and held his face with tender hands. "Please, don't be sad, baby. It's as if your glance had turned violet again..." Will sighed and hid his face on Ukyo's shoulder. She embraced him and whispered: "Maybe you didn't have a family to celebrate with all those years... but you have one now. You both do," she added, turning to Siegfried. "Don't think about the family you didn't have. If you must remember them, remember the happy times you spent with them. And also know that you do have a family now."

Willie nodded silently and hugged Ukyo tenderly. I had forgotten all about that detail. Siegfried himself was looking rather unsteady, so I decided to truly embrace the Christmas spirit. I pulled him to my side and held him.

"I'm sorry I got angry at you, guys," I said. "Come on... You know we all love you."

"...All right," he sighed, doing his best not to weep. "Thanks, Sakura."

"Guys, come on!! What's taking you so long?" Sora yelled from Santa's house's porch.

Ukyo gave Wilheim a quick kiss on the lips and gently wiped his teary eyes. She then walked over to Siegfried and gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek while I did the same with Wilheim. We said nothing more and joined our friends, who were just about to ring Santa's doorbell.

"Are you all ready?" Jack asked and pressed the button. A bunch of bells chimed to the tone of – what a shock – "Jingle Bells" and moments later, we heard heavy footsteps behind the door.

"Coming, coming..." said a grave, but gentle voice.

The door swung open and we gasped in amazement as we looked at Claus himself. I guess describing him to you would be useless, since you all know what he looks like. But in case one of you is wondering, yes: he was the living image of the Santa Claus you see riding shaving machines on the T. V. commercials... red outfit; big belly; long, bushy beard; small, jolly eyes... What more can I say? The man. In person.

"My, my, so many visitors at once..." he said, looking quite surprised. "Can I help...? Oh, it's you again!" he exclaimed upon seeing Jack.

"Hello, Sandy Claws! It's been such a long time!" Jack said.

"First of all, it's 'Santa Claus'," the man retorted. "Secondly; no. I know exactly what you came here for." He turned around and went back inside the house, yet left the door open... Well, it would take some time to warm up to him, hopefully.

"But, Santa, it's different this time!" Jack tried to explain as he entered the house, with us following him. "Last time I got a bit carried off... However, this time it will all be perfect! I've done plenty of planning, Santa!"

"Yes; there was also a lot of planning from you last time," Santa Claus replied. He finally stopped and faced us. With a sigh, he asked: "Did he drag you all into this?"

"Well, not _him_," Baiken answered.

"Umm, what she means, Mr. Santa Claus, is that we're here to look after ya," Goofy quickly explained. "You see, there's a lot of bad guys roaming around, and we thought that maybe—"

"The Heartless?" Santa interrupted.

"You mean... you know about them?" Donald questioned.

"Well, yes, unfortunately. They've come here a few times... But I do have had some help lately to repel them."

"I told them that it would be a good idea for them to become your body guards," Jack said. "That way you can relax while I handle Christmas!"

"Oh, Jack..." Santa Claus sighed, shaking his head. "Listen... why don't you fellows make yourselves at home? Go to the living room: there's milk and cookies. Eat all you want. I'll be with you all in a few moments... I'll have a little chat with Jack..."

"Yay!" Sora whispered as he hastily made his way to the living room. For my part, I was sold with the word 'cookies'.

Santa's house had all the typical Christmas decorations (except any figures of himself... that would've been too pretentious, I guess): candy bars, Christmas socks, garlands, mistletoe here and there, and, of course, the fable Christmas tree, with all sorts of pretty adornments on it. It gave us the warmest, coziest feeling one can have during the holidays. And, just as he had said, there was a tray riddled with recently-baked cookies and about five jars of fresh milk. Sadly there was only one glass and I wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of sharing milk with everyone. If not for this last detail, anyone could've thought he was expecting company. Although the big guy's belly was sort of a giveaway for the dough banquet in front of us...

We all stood still in the living room, watching at the couches, not knowing whether to remain standing or to sit down. Heck, none of us dared to have a cookie, even though it was clear every last one of us was drooling from the mouth, itching to take a bite of those delicious-looking cookies. Besides, it looked like we would stay there, by ourselves, for a bit longer. Jack and Santa had stepped outside of the house and it didn't seem that they would wrap up their business soon.

We looked at each other time and again. Someone had to make the first move. But who would be as bold as to eat one of Santa Clause's cookies? Now, the first person you'd think of, naturally, would be Adrian – Mr. Shameless in the flesh. Nevertheless, a vampire can't eat cookies... So, then, who could be so... audacious?

"Well, he did say we're invited," Ranma finally declared stepping forth and taking a cookie. He took a bite and his eyes rolled back in delight. "Hmm!!"

"That good, Ranma?" Akane asked.

"Hmph-flbehshellent," he replied, nearly spitting out a piece of the cookie.

"There's a man that enjoys food," Adrian chuckled.

"Let me try one out," Sora said. He started to eat one and nearly fainted. Well, that helped me make up my mind. Before we knew it, we were all eating cookies, with the exception of Adrian and Octavius. Even Baiken was helping herself to some candy. I dare to say that she forgot about her grouchiness.

"These are the best cookies I've ever tasted in my entire life," Jam mused.

"Even better than the ones you baked with your oven?" Ukyo teased.

"Ah, stop it! I bet you were the school's bully, weren't you?"

"Sometimes..."

"I could eat this forever," Sora said. "Man, they're so good! I wish I could have a supply of these for life! That'd be the perfect Christmas present!"

"And then you'd turn into a fat teddy bear. Who'd go after the Heartless, then?" Baiken – yes, _Baiken_ – said, while _smiling_, making Sora chuckle. Those cookies were magical. Period.

"Hi, everyone," a gentle, feminine voice said from behind us. "Here's some glasses... I hope everyone's in the mood for some milk."

We turned around and saw a beautiful girl standing in front of us, holding a tray with a lot of glasses. She was wearing a pair of white boots that reached her ankles with a crescent moon on the top; she had a white, sleeveless, winged dress with a mini-skirt inside (at least that's what I could make out by the shadows her clothes cast); she wore white sleeves which were very much like the ones Jam had, and her neck was adorned by a white laced chocker. Her skin was fair and seemed silky: almost as white as Adrian's, but, strangely enough, with very much more life in it. She was about my height; had long, golden hair that reached her thighs, and a pair of aqua-blue eyes that lit the whole room with their welcoming glance. Her ears were somewhat long and pointy and she had a pair of white wings at each side of her head... She was a strange vision, indeed. It's not every day you get to see someone who could very well be an angel. She had a magical glow engulfing her...

"Oh, hi..." Sora muttered shyly.

"Hi... who are you?" questioned Donald.

"Oh, my name is... Hey, it's you! Long time, no see!" she greeted cheerfully.

Catherine looked at her for a few moments and then realized she had met this girl before. "Oh, yes, I remember now!" she said. "...Irina, wasn't it?"

"Yes, that's right..." she confirmed. "Irina Crescent... It is nice to meet the rest of you."

"So you know each other?" Ken asked.

"Yeah... Back when I was with the Soul Valkyries, I was sent on a very dangerous mission, to a forest... I got badly beaten and was nearly killed. Fortunately, I was lucky that Irina came to my aid and saved me." She paused for a bit before going on. "We have only met once, but I suppose I can say I trust her with my life."

"Thank you," Irina chuckled.

"Anyway... what are you doing here?"

"Well... about a year ago, the forest from where I come from, Nirvana – where I found you, Catherine – was attacked by dark creatures wearing the emblem of a shattered hea—"

"The Heartless," we interrupted. "Yeah, we know all about those," Sora added. "We're waging war against them."

"Oh, you are? That's great!" she exclaimed. "So you're here to get rid of them?"

"That's the idea."

"Ah, I see you have met Irina," Santa suddenly said from behind. He made his way into the living room and sat down on the biggest couch. Weird... Jack was nowhere to be seen... "She's been great help around here, protecting us against those terrible monsters. How long has it been since you arrived, child?"

"About a year ago, Santa," she replied.

"A year, yes... she's kept us safe for a long time. Her powers are amazing and she's good company." He cleared his throat and then took out a long list... The list. "Right. So, I suppose that now that you're here, you're wondering if whether you're on the good list or on the naughty list, isn't that right?"

"L-list??" Felicia stuttered. "...But... aren't most of us too old to be there?"

"Nonsense! No one is too old for the list!"

I really wasn't expecting that one. Did that mean that we were actually going to get a present...? And thinking about it further, where the hell was he when our parents revealed to us the awful truth about Santa? I guess we... automatically made it to his list upon entering the world, I would think. But the strange part was that he had a lot of background on us...

"Let's start with Donald and Goofy," he said. The duo quickly stood in front of him and held their breaths. And to think they were original members of the Grinch band... "You two have been very good this year."

"Oh, boy!" Donald cheered.

"I was almost sure of it," Goofy chuckled.

"Now, who's next, who's next... Ah, Felicia," he said.

"H-how do you even know our names?" the cat-woman stammered.

"Oh, let's not go into details... Besides, you don't have to worry. I see you've been visiting little children in orphanages; you give them hope. You've been very, very good this year."

"O-okay..." she chuckled with delight, though she was terribly confused. How could he know all that stuff?

"This is weird!" I whispered to Akane.

"Yeah, a lot... I wonder if any of us is in the naughty list?" she murmured back.

"I might have a few guesses, but I'd like it better if none of us were there."

"What about me?" Sora quickly intervened. "What list am I in? I mean, what list... sir?"

"Ah, yes, Sora..." Santa Claus mused as he searched for his name. "Hmm... I have a note on you. It would appear that you don't believe in me anymore?" he stated, looking at him with a questioning glance.

Oh, boy. If Sora was in trouble because of that, then we were all screwed... Which made me wonder if Donald, Goofy, and Felicia had believed in him all the time... Well, the logical guess was that with Sora it was a lot more recent.

"Huh? Me? Well, I..." Sora gulped and found himself without words, as did some of us.

I turned away with a nervous sigh and then forgot all about that as I saw out the window. Jack was sitting in the house's porch, letting his head rest on his hands. I couldn't see his face, but his posture told me he was feeling blue. I gave Ryoga a tap on the shoulder and pointed at Jack discretely. He gave a slight nod with his head and we quietly made our way through the rest of our friends and exited Santa's house. Besides, I guess it wasn't pleasant for Sora to have the rest of us witnessing his conversation with Santa Claus...

"Jack?" I murmured gently and sat beside him. He turned to me with, as I had already guessed, a depressed expression. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Ah, nothing..." he sighed unhappily.

"Come on, Jack. You can tell us," Ryoga said with a friendly, understanding tone.

"Well... it seems that Santa Claus didn't agree with the idea of me handling over Christmas," he explained.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"He told me that this Holiday should be handled only by him. He reminded me of the last time I tried to do something of the sort. I answered that I had changed and that I knew what I had done wrong. Yet he..." He paused and let another sad sigh. "He claims that Halloween is my specialty and I should stick to it. He also asked me how I would feel if he tried to take over Halloween..."

"...Well, and how would you feel?"

"I wouldn't be very happy," he admitted. "I was honest with him... I try to put myself in his boots, but it's still just sad that we had worked so hard to have a good, merry Christmas in Halloween Town... and now I have to go back to them and tell them that Christmas is cancelled."

"Um... Jack, not being able to perform Santa's job doesn't mean that you have to cancel Christmas just like that," I said.

"Yeah, Jack," Ryoga added. "You know, in our world, we also celebrate Christmas. It's always a big festivity all over the world. Even if there is no Santa Claus, it really doesn't matter."

"...Is that true?" Jack muttered.

"Sure!" I said. "It's just a matter of getting into the Christmas spirit. You can still hang out with the people of Halloween Town... You know what you guys could do? Gift exchange... Secret Santa!"

"Secret Santa?"

"Yeah. Let me explain: you write your names in pieces of paper and you put all those pieces in a hat – or some sort of container, it really doesn't matter. Then, you pick a single piece of paper and you have to give that person a gift. On Christmas day, get together and give each other your gifts. How does that sound?"

"...That actually sounds like fun," Jack said, smiling again.

The smell of the cookies was suddenly swept away by an eerie wind. The soft snow which had welcomed us to Christmas Town was suddenly covered by a malignant shadow. We felt a sudden chill attack our hearts and we quickly knew that the Heartless had come. We stood up and walked away from Santa's house, into the main plaza, ready to meet our enemies for another showdown.

"Guys, come quickly!" I shouted at our friends, who were still inside the man's house, doing who knows what. "It's time we started doing our bodyguard job!"

"These foes are impressively persistent," Jack grumbled. "Not that it will do them any good... We'll destroy them like before."

"You got that right," Ryoga agreed. "Here they come..."

I looked up to the sky and noticed a group of gargoyles and then saw a large group composed by mummies, phantoms, and... what seemed to be giant toy boxes approaching us by ground. Once again we were vastly outnumbered. Thankfully we were already used to that, but the phantoms and the toy boxes were unknown to us, so we would have to be careful when approaching them. I had already discovered – by the hard way – that even a single enemy, as puny as it might look, can make your life a living hell.

"We're here, guys!" Sora exclaimed as he led the rest of our friends into the plaza. Irina also came along. "We'll take care of these goons in no time. No way are they getting to Santa."

"Come and get it, Heartless!" Ken challenged and fired a Hadoken against the enemy. He succeeded in both destroying a few with his projectile and in getting them to charge against us.

Sora and Jack lunged at one of the ghosts and went through it in less than a second. Donald and Goofy followed them, taking on two mummies. The duck burned his opponent to a crisp, while Goofy banged his enemy's head repeatedly with his shield until it was no more. Yet then, the four of them came face to face with one of those huge toy boxes. Sora charged against it, aiming his Keyblade at its enormous body, but was received by a creepy pumpkin that sprung from the box and knifed him twice. The boy backed away, protecting his retreat with an icy spell, while Donald cured him with a spell. Once his opponents were well away, the Heartless attacked again: this time, it was a little soldier that which came out of the box and fired a deadly accurate shot with a rifle, piercing Goofy's arm. Jack raced at the enemy and skillfully dodged the pumpkin's knives to keep the huge toy box from further attacking the boy and the knight. Donald healed them hastily and they kept on fighting.

Three phantoms lurked near Ryoga and me. I swung my foot against one of them, but it quickly retreated and fired a blue ball of flames at me. I ducked under it and readied myself for my next attack. However, before I could even take a step forward, I was scorched by the treacherous projectile. I yelled as the fire gnawed at my back and stumbled forth, only to be received by a truly powerful flurry of punches. I fell flat on my back, seeing stars. Two phantoms were about to land yet another punch on me, when Ryoga lunged at it with his umbrella, forcing them to fly back. I shook my head and did my best to stand up. I sighed and put myself on guard, facing the third ghost while Ryoga took on the other two. The fiend fired another projectile at me. This time, I decided to counter it with a Hadoken. Luckily, my energy wave was fiercer than the one of the Heartless and went right through it. The enemy was unable to dodge my projectile and swallowed it whole. It was stunned, but not dead. I had to finish the job before it regained consciousness.

"I'm going to go Pac-man on your ass!" I yelled as I leapt at it and hit it with both fists right on the head, killing it instantaneously. "Two-hundred points for me... Who's next?!"

As I called out to another challenger, Merryck and Siegfried made their way to one of those enormous toy boxes. The hobbit hid behind our tall friend as he made his advance, using his shield to fend off the incoming bullets that the little soldier fired at them. Seeing that its shots were of no consequence, the toy box hurried to meet them and then the pumpkin attacked. Again, Siegfried skillfully blocked the aggression with the shield. The Heartless tried to go through his defenses time and again, but was unable to do so. Siegfried's shield was simply too resilient. Then, when it let its guard down, Merryck seized the opportunity. He jumped on Siegfried's shoulders and then propelled himself at the pumpkin's neck. He took a single swing and beheaded the darn toy box, killing it instantly.

Meanwhile, Ranma, and Akane fought against a group of mummies and gargoyles. He took out the ground soldiers with lightning fast fists and Akane destroyed the flying fiends with powerful aerial kicks. More than once they tried to defeat her with fireballs, but she had grown too powerful for those projectiles and bounced them back at the Heartless with swift kicks. Camille and Felicia joined them and the four of them alone kept the mummies and the gargoyles off our backs.

Octavius and Wilheim faced two large toy boxes. Wilheim skillfully deflected the soldiers' shots with Renamark. The were-bear on the other hand, seemed bent on intimidating the Heartless (though that possibly wouldn't work). He didn't take out his katana; he just walked against them with his shotgun in hand, taking the fire without even flinching. He only evaded the headshots, but other than those, he took the bullets in his tough body and wasn't slowed down even a bit. Once near his opponent, Mr. Pumpkin appeared with knives in hand. The enormous man pointed the shotgun at its head and blew it off.

"Oh, ho, ho, ho!" Adrian yelled from afar upon seeing this. "Now you have no face!"

The other toy box stepped away from Octavius and kept firing at him with all it had. However, it made a terrible mistake, for it had forgotten that there was another enemy stalking it: Wilheim reached the distracted Heartless and slashed the box with his sword, cutting it in half. Octavius's plan did work after all.

Another trio of ghosts attacked me. Ryoga was still busy trying to get a phantom and a toy box off his back, so I would have to handle these guys on my own. Or so I thought, because as the enemies approached me, Catherine stepped beside me and gave me a quick glance and a nod. Understanding her gesture (and thanking her for it), we charged against the Heartless. The Soul Valkyrie struck one of the phantoms with a fiery spell. However, it didn't seem to hurt it. It just absorbed the flames and attempted to sit us down with a quick fist. We leapt back just in time.

"Fire isn't the answer here," she mused to herself. "Come on; come closer and we'll see if you can stand the chill of my spells."

As if it had been taunted, one of the ghosts approached us. Catherine conjured her incantation and instantly turned the phantom into a popsicle. She lost no time and shattered it with a swift lunge of her spear. The remaining two Heartless came up with an intelligent scheme: one of them started to hurl fireballs at us while the other remained in front of it, protecting it from any counterattacks we might attempt. For my part, I tried to do the same thing I did with the last phantom, but it turns out two fireballs were enough to completely disintegrate my energy wave... My weakest energy wave, that is.

"I've seen you throw fiercer energy blasts than those, Sakura," Catherine said. "Stun them with heavier fire."

"They're not giving me enough time to focus!" I retorted.

"Fine. Then let's play by their rules," she replied. "Stay behind me and start gathering your power."

I did as she told me and began to summon the energy necessary to unleash a Shinkuu Hadoken. Catherine remained with her guard up and deflected every projectile with her spear. The Heartless had no choice but to hope that one of their flaming attacks would hit her. They didn't risk going near her; not after what had happened to their unfortunate companion. Not that it mattered, anyway; after a few moments, I was ready to unleash all of my power on those two boneheads.

"Move, Catherine!" I exclaimed. The Valkyrie sidestepped and I immediately let loose the fearsome energy wave. "SHINKUU HADOKEN!!"

My projectile flew straight and true. The ghosts desperately tried to nullify it with fireballs of their own, but my power was much too great this time. They ultimately decided to dodge it, yet the idea (the obvious solution, to tell the truth) came to their fragile little minds only too late. Though it wasn't a direct impact, my Shinkuu Hadoken crashed against the ground right next to them and the shockwave alone killed them.

Jack and Goofy started to attack much like Siegfried and Merryck. While the knight distracted the toy boxes by blocking their shots from far away, the Pumpkin King would sneak from behind and would fry them with fire spells before they could retaliate. Donald and Sora went after phantoms and destroyed many of them with ice and lightning spells. As usual, things were looking good for us, but there were still a lot of enemies to destroy.

But suddenly, a female voice pierced the wind and loudly and clearly sang a song. I couldn't understand the words and the melody was unlike anything I had heard before. The chanting was slow and seemed melancholic, almost like a moan that expresses the longing of something dear. However, after a few moments, it began to grow menacing, although its pace didn't quicken. One could've sworn that it was the howling of a specter, yet the tone was beautiful; not a single note was amiss or displeasing to hear. And as the song grew in intensity, the air also turned colder.

The Heartless stood still and alert – the same as us. None of us seemed to know where that chant was coming from. Yet then, I looked at Catherine and noticed she was staring at Irina. I looked at the girl and realized she was the one who was singing. And right about the same time I laid eyes on her, the snow about her rose from the ground and started to form a feminine shape above her. The enemy became even more alarmed and decided to attack. Irina did not move. By the looks of it, she was chanting a most powerful spell. We quickly formed a wall around her and kept the Heartless away as the form became solid, turning into a beautiful woman with white skin and long, magical hair. She had a calm expression upon her face and wore a silky dress...

The female figure became solid and finally, Irina stopped singing. She then quietly pointed her arm at the Heartless. Heeding her master's command, the magical being blew into her hand and unleashed a catastrophic blizzard about us. The Heartless tried to flee in vain; they were trapped in icy coffins in a matter of seconds. It was like being in the eye of a hurricane: I could see the chilling wind devastating everything around us, yet we were safe... as long as we didn't move a muscle. The air about us howled like a terrible pack of wolves and made short work of our enemies. Irina let out a sigh and then, the female figure vanished and the winds became calm. We were amazed. All of our enemies had been destroyed. All we had to do was to touch the ice that trapped them and it would crumble like an icicle in spring time...

"That was wicked!" Sora exclaimed.

"You haven't lost the touch, Irina," Catherine said with a smile. "Though this spell was rather different than the one you conjured last time. The song was also nothing like the other one."

"I know," the angelical elf answered with a smile. "This was Shiva; one of the most potent elemental creatures. It was a good thing you guys kept the Heartless off my back... It gave me plenty of time to strengthen my spell. Thank you!"

"Thank us?" Jam stuttered. "Well... You're welcome, I guess. Although you're the one we should be thanking. That stunt of yours wiped out every monster."

"Indeed... That power was something I had never witnessed before, and I'm glad I did," Ryu said.

"Well, I'm disappointed," Adrian intervened. "You didn't give us any chance to have fun. What's the matter with you??"

"I'm sorry, I guess," Irina chuckled.

"Sorry is not good enough, missy. Bring them back!"

"Shut up, will you? You'll have fun later, I can promise you that," Felicia meowed.

"Well, next time I'll focus less power so you can fight a bit more. It seems you like doing that..." she said.

"Irina, do yourself a favor and don't take him seriously," I chuckled.

"Yeah, don't take me seriously," Adrian added. "Honestly: you were terrific. Well done."

"Oh, I see... Thank you," she giggled.

"Well... Now that we've gotten rid of the Heartless, we should check on Santa Claus," Siegfried suggested.

"Right! Let's go back to him," Sora added.

"Why the rush? It's not like you're getting any presents this year," Donald teased.

"Who asked you? Come on, let's hurry up!"

We returned to Santa's house and found him safe and sound, thankfully. With a sigh of relief, Jack approached him and said:

"It's good to see you're okay, Mr. Sandy—I mean, Santa Claus. Those Heartless turned out to be a tad more dangerous than the ones we've fought before."

"Well, yes... it's a fortune you're all here, then," Santa said, looking somewhat baffled.

"...Is everything okay?" Sora quickly asked.

"Well, while you were fighting, I saw a trio of very naughty children wandering around... I think you might know who they are, Jack," he added, staring at Mr. Skellington.

"I think I do," Jack sighed unhappily. "Did you see them causing any trouble?"

"Not exactly... But they seemed rather frightened... There was a woman with them, you see. I had never seen her before... But it looked that she was up to no good."

"What did she look like?" I asked.

"She wore a long, black dress over her skinny body. She had white, pale skin and a yellow stare. It looked to me that there were two dragon-like horns on her head. She was also holding a long staff with a greenish crystal ball on the tip." He shuddered as he went on speaking. "I could feel great evil flowing through her. For a moment, I thought she was the one leading the Heartless... However, they disappeared while you were fighting against those dark beings."

The description fit someone we knew perfectly. We looked at each other, doing our best to think of some other person. Anyone would be better than her...

"You don't suppose it's Maleficent?" Donald guessed, not really wanting to say the name.

"It surely sounds like her," Demean sighed unhappily. "We must assume that her return is a possibility, then."

"But Will killed her..." Sora mumbled. "Remember, guys? He drove Renamark into her and she was eaten by its flames..."

"If Sephiroth has revived, it is likely that witch has managed to come back to the world of the living as well," Wilheim said.

"...Dang..."

"Well, standing here talking about her is not going to do any good," Camille intervened. "Let us go find her quickly, before she attacks this place."

"Who the heck is Maleficent?" Jam asked with a puzzled stare.

"A sorceress," Tish answered. "A very evil and very powerful sorceress..."

"Did you see which way they went, Santa?" Goofy asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know," Santa sighed. "I confess I got distracted by the battle. I only saw a glimpse of them and then they were gone."

"We should look for them. They can't be far," Jack suggested.

"With Maleficent, who knows...?" Akane sighed.

"Either way, no harm in looking," Merryck said. "I believe we should break up into groups."

"I agree, but let's not go too far," Siegfried suggested. "Just in case we do find her, we can get back together and stand against her together. I don't know her at all, but by the way you guys talk about her, she sounds like a handful."

"You don't want to know..." Sora said. "Well, Santa, it looks like we'll have to leave you again for a bit... Um... Will you be all right?"

"I suppose so, Sora," Santa replied. "Go and do what you came here to do."

With that, we left the house and split up in four groups. Naturally, Ryoga and I stuck together and were accompanied by Sora, Donald, Goofy, Camille, and Irina. We decided to search for our enemies by the great Christmas tree that adorned the town.

On a different occasion, I would've been delighted to be there. The tree was enormous. It was about six stories high and had every Christmas adornment I knew on it, and some I had never seen before in my life. The tree had no electrical lights. Instead, it was decorated with magical candles. Their fire didn't seem to be dangerous at all, because it caressed the leaves of the great pine delicately and didn't spread. Furthermore, each candle had a different color. Some were blue, some red, some green. It was a wonderful view... Too bad we were looking for an evil witch capable of destroying the town in the form of an apocalyptic dragon.

The tree was surrounded by Christmas presents. Somehow, we thought it was unlikely that Maleficent and the boys would be hiding inside one of those, ready to pop out of one like a jack-in-the-box. There was no trace of them. Something told me that Maleficent and her lackeys were already far away. I thought it was useless to be looking for her... Then again, I could be wrong... It's always better to be safe than sorry.

"It doesn't look like she's around," Sora muttered. "The town isn't that big. She couldn't have gone far..."

"Unless she left Christmas Town already," Donald said.

"Or she vanished," Ryoga added. "You know how the bad guys had adopted a tendency to do that..."

"You guys seem like you could use some help hunting down the Heartless," Irina shyly mumbled. "Um... Do you think that I'd be helpful if I went with you?"

"Sure! You're more than welcome to come with us," Sora answered.

"Actually, I already had the idea that you would join us," I giggled. "That happens to us a lot... And like we always say, the more, the merrier."

"Thanks!" Irina said cheerfully. "I'm really grateful... It's just that I was looking forward get out of here and go back to my homeland... Perhaps you could take me there? After we're finished with all of this, of course..."

"No problem! We'd be happy to do that," Sora replied.

"Surely you are ecstatic, my dear Sora," Camille said lustfully. "It appears that you attract lovely women all around... More than enough to fulfill the secret desires of your young mind."

"S-stop it, Camille!" the little man stuttered, his face blushing.

"But why should I? You know that I speak the truth... Yet all I need for you is a bit of patience..." she said in a sensual whisper, approaching Sora and putting her arms around his neck. And I thought Jam drove him mad... "Sadly, I do not possess a lot of patience myself. Oh, if you could only peer into my heart's desires..."

"S-shut up, you t-two!" Sora told Donald and Goofy, who were practically rolling on the ground from so much laughter, while Irina stared at him and the succubus with a stupefied expression on her face. Things were a bit awkward for me, because I was almost sure Camille wasn't kidding like Adrian or like Jam...

Yet then, we all became still as we noticed we weren't alone. A woman had appeared out of nowhere and slowly approached us. I almost grunted when I saw her... It was as if Camille had invoked her with those last words of hers. She was strikingly beautiful and wore a very, very revealing attire. She had long, leather, red boots; a red, leather mini-skirt, and a jacket which was half-way opened, revealing most of her breasts. Leather, fingerless gloves; sleeves similar to the ones Jam had, and a hat that seemed to have mouth and eyes... This woman screamed for attention. And attention she got, all right... All of our male friends' jaws had dropped at the very sight of her... including my stupid boyfriend. Well, to be fair, like I said, she was incredibly beautiful. Almost as much as – I hate to admit it, as well – Jam. Her body was perfect. Long legs, nice breasts... well, you get the picture. Her face was gorgeous as well. She had short, black hair and a magical blue stare, and also had one of those sexy-beauty-spots right beside her delicate nose. I know I'm going to sound like a jealous bitch right now, but I hated her the moment I laid eyes on her.

"Um... H-hello..." Sora stammered. Stupid kid...

"Hi," I greeted, dryly.

"My, my, what a lovely group!" she exclaimed with a voice that melted both Sora and Ryoga when they heard it. "I wonder... what are you all doing here, around this very lovely Christmas tree?"

"W-we are l-looking for s-someone," Ryoga mumbled. Of course, I immediately elbowed him on the ribs.

"Sounds like fun... Do you mind if I join you?"

"Um... We're looking for someone who might be very dangerous," Irina quickly explained. "Perhaps it would be best for you if you stayed indoors... You know... so you won't get into trouble."

"Get into trouble? But I love getting into trouble!" the woman exclaimed. "All sorts of trouble... Besides, it would be very interesting to share an adventure with all of you, 'cause you're all so very handsome..." she snickered, eying the boys, who merely laughed idiotically. But before I could tell her anything, she walked to me with a lustful glance. I got very nervous and extremely uncomfortable... "Especially the younger ones... I'd be delighted to share some very joyous moments with you..."

"...Ryoga, do something..." I murmured with fright as she started to curl her fingers around my hair.

"H-hey... I think that's enough," he said, thankfully, and gently pushed her away from me.

"_Au contraire_, handsome.... I believe that the fun is just started..." Yet before she could make another move, Camille stepped in front of me. I really didn't know what she was up to, but at the very least she had diverted the woman's attention from me. "Oh, an uninvited intruder... Although you're more than welcomed to the party... Of all creatures, who would believe a succubus would join us... The first thing I'm going to do is to kiss those luscious lips..." And she was as good as her word. She gave Camille a long, licentious kiss. We were all in shock. However, the succubus did not kiss the stranger back. "Hmm, too slow? Perhaps we could go some other place quiet, where I can take you..."

"_I_ will take you," Camille corrected, yet there was no trace of sensuality in her tone. "In your sleep, while you are dreaming. I will possess you in your dreams... and I will zap your power and feast on your retched soul."

We all gulped in silent shock. I suppose none of us were expecting her to say something like that.

"Oh, a feisty one, eh?" the woman jeered, stepping back, licking her lips. "A fight, perhaps, will prove to be better foreplay." All of a sudden, a blue electric guitar appeared on her hands. She caressed the cords with lustful hands and then licked them, letting a trail of saliva ooze though them. Almost as if the very thought of battling our succubus excited her, she jammed on a few notes (very skillfully, I admit), and beckoned our friend. "Then come, succubus, and tear me apart, if you dare!"

"Stay behind, children," Camille grumbled, spreading her wings menacingly. "This is my fight."

Utterly confused by the sudden turn of events, we stepped back and chose not to intervene unless things got nasty... Camille let out a threatening shout and charged against her opponent, who emitted an ecstatic moan as she hovered back and swung her guitar against the succubus...

"...What the heck...?" Sora murmured. He wasn't the only one out of words...

Camille attacked with her wings, turning them solid and sharp and wrapping them around her fists. The woman blocked our friend's attacks with great ease and countered by jamming on her musical instrument, emitting a loud shockwave which caused Camille to stagger back and forth. While she was dazed, the enemy slammed her on the head with a swift attack. The succubus fell on the snow face-first. Before she could get up, the woman sat on top of her and easily detached one of the strings from her guitar. She wrapped it around Camille's neck and began to choke her.

"This is getting me so hot...!" she jeered lustfully and licked the succubus's cheek. "I think I'm going to take you right here, right now..."

"This is not over!" Camille exclaimed hoarsely, using her wings to cut the woman's arms and then propelling her away. Yet instead of screaming in pain, the stranger chuckled licentiously.

"It seems I'm underestimating you..." she said. "Come on, baby... let's have some more fun."

She jammed on her guitar once more and arched her back forward. Then, her hat came alive – it stared at Camille and opened its foul mouth, shooting off a deadly ray which knocked her down yet again. The woman hovered at her, no doubt to pull off some other twisted stunt, but Camille was ready for her: as she hovered over her, the succubus shot off a powerful attack that knocked the air out of the woman. As she flew back, Camille threw her tentacle-like wings at her, wrapping them around her ankles and wrists, and slammed her against the ground. She managed to do this a couple of times, until the woman jerked her arms and legs away, succeeding in getting loose once more. She now bled from her mouth and forehead. Nevertheless, she still seemed calm and excited. She licked her blood and stared at Camille with even more desire, her glance now as violet as Wilheim's when he was a vampire.

"I'm so glad I found you, sweetheart... You'll make a fine dish..." she snickered. She then hovered at Camille at an amazing speed and with her hand's command, a pike of energy emerged from the ground, hitting the succubus on the stomach, leaving her at the mercy of the woman's twisted desires.

She kicked Camille on the chin with her long heels and knocked her down again. This time, our friend was unable to kick her away as she pressed her body against hers and started to choke her with her guitar once more.

"Do you really think you can win, Camille?" she moaned. "Seeing you in agony makes me so horny... I don't know what turns me on more: the thought of raping you or of bathing in your blood..."

That was more than I could take. Choosing to disobey Camille's orders, I threw myself against the psychotic bitch and tried to strangle her. However, she easily twisted my arm, breaking it in the blink of an eye. I had no idea she was so strong. Ryoga and the others immediately leapt to my rescue, yet the woman held me by the waist and flew on top of the Christmas tree. Her hat opened its mouth and showed my friends a fireball, threatening to burn down the tree should they try to attack. They remained still and confused for a moment, yelling at the woman to come back down and fight with honor. Yeah, like that would work on someone like her...

"Attacking someone from behind is foul play, baby," she whispered into my ear and kissed it. I was sick to my stomach, yet was unable to shake her off... She was simply too strong. "I love the way you smell... The way you fear me... Should I take you first?"

"...Go fuck yourself," I answered in a whimper. Not the least bit menacing, I'm afraid...

"Surely... But you will join me..."

"SHISHI-HOKOUDAN!!" bellowed Ryoga as he unleashed a perfectly-aimed shot at the fiend's head. The woman released me as she reeled back and I fell. However, Donald quickly conjured a wind spell which broke my fall and immediately cured my arm. At the same time, Camille, who had already recovered from the woman's last assault, flew at her, this time mad with rage.

Ryoga held me in his arms and studied my face.

"Are you okay?" he asked with concern.

"Yeah..." I lied. "We've got to help Camille!"

Camille and the stranger flew through the air, throwing punches and kicks against one another... Until suddenly, the woman caught one of the succubus's arms and then her grew and burst into a loud sound wave which broke the windows of the nearby houses and hurt our ears... God knows what Camille felt. I saw her eyes roll back in pain and then she fell on the ground and slid through the snow, almost unconscious. The woman laughed wickedly and flew at Camille like an arrow, aiming her heel at her stomach. Of course, we had stopped being observers already.

Sora quickly threw his Keyblade at her. However, the woman anticipated the attack and stopped in midair. She blocked the blow with her guitar before rushing at the young boy and kneeing him in the stomach. Out of air, Sora fell on the ground, but not before the bitch kissed him on the cheek... Goofy rushed to his aid, yet was received with a brutal smash from the woman's instrument, which sent him to dreamland. Donald tried to stop her with a lightning spell, but she stepped away from the thunderbolt and answered by jamming on her guitar and sending a hurtful wave against our sorcerer. The moment it touched him, he blacked out...

Irina's turn came. She quickly started to sing a melody very similar to the one she had uttered against the Heartless. However, this one's pace was much faster. An icicle emerged from the ground and tried to stab the woman. However, the enemy was quicker than the angelical elf and only received a scratch in her arm. She then flew at her at full speed, skillfully evading the icicles and freezing blasts Irina dished out with her song. Ryoga stepped in front of our ally and used his Breaking Point technique to block the woman's vision, which would hopefully allow Irina to land a successful attack. Nevertheless, the woman's cunning was overwhelming, as she stopped her charge, leapt high into the air and then dived against both of them, heels first. Ryoga took the kick in the chest and was then slammed on the head with that sturdy guitar. Irina tried to sing again, yet the enemy caught her by the throat and started to choke her.

I took a deep breath and charged at the foe. She let go of Irina as she saw me (yet not before giving her a brutal punch which nearly broke her jaw). I tried to hit her with a flurry of fists, yet she easily blocked all of my attacks. She swung her guitar at my face, but I ducked just in time. Then, before she could retaliate, I hit her with an uppercut.

"SHOUKEN!!" I yelled and knocked her off her feet.

However, before her back hit the ground, she stopped in midair and rushed after me. I blocked the furious charge and counterattacked with a kick to the stomach. While I did sink my foot into her belly, the woman wasn't stunned. She grabbed my foot and twisted it badly. I yelled in pain and fell to the ground as she gave me a powerful punch in my back, which nearly knocked me out. I was once again defenseless and in her power...

"Leave her alone...!" Ryoga yelled, struggling to get back on his feet.

"Jealous?" the damned woman jeered as she held my face up and licked me yet again. "Care to join? I'm sure your girlfriend would appreciate it..."

"Ryoga, help me..." I yelped, tears escaping my eyes, feeling terribly weak and humiliated. I had never felt so helpless...

"Let her go...!" he growled, focusing his power to the palms of his hands.

"Let loose your attack, boy... Let's see if your aim is as good this time," she laughed, kissing my cheek. I looked at Ryoga while trembling, unable to get away from that despicable woman. "Although it would be a shame to kill her before we had some good fun..."

"I'll save you, Sakura..." Ryoga mumbled, yet his eyes rolled as he spoke...

All of a sudden, the woman let go of me. Camille had recovered her strength and had steam-rolled over our enemy in a furious rush. She threw a flurry of punches and kicks at her at an incredible speed with amazing strength. Caught off guard, the woman was unable to defend herself from the frenzied succubus. She hit her time and again without mercy, a look of unadulterated fury in her green eyes... The woman tried to hold her ground by raising her guitar, yet Camille's fists found their way to the enemy's body. When it seemed that the foe was about to fall, Camille wrapped down one of her wings around her fist and turned it into a sharp knife. She threw it at the woman and pierced one of her shoulders, gaining her first cry of pain, which wasn't very pain-filled, to tell the truth.

The woman backed away, yet didn't fall down. Camille merely stood still and on her guard, ready to attack again should the need arise. Yet then, the enemy started to laugh.

"Those were some moves," she said, smiling at our friend. "You're a lot more skilled than you pretend to be, don't you?"

"If you dare to touch her again, I will show you just how much, vile woman," Camille answered.

"I like you, succubus. You win this time... But a shattered shoulder isn't enough to stop me." Her eyes changed color again. This time they became red. "Next time I won't show mercy either. I'll have my fun with you before I gut you all..." She straightened up and looked at me. I then realized that her wound had healed. "You would do well to remember my name, girl... Next time, I-No and you will have a hell of a time," she jeered, licking her lips. And before Camille could reach her, she flew away on her guitar and disappeared into the night.

The rest of my friends slowly got back on their feet, doing their best not to black out again. Ryoga crawled to my side and put his hand on my back.

"Are you all right, Sakura?" he asked.

I was so disgusted. I could still feel her saliva on my skin. I frantically grabbed a snowball and rubbed it against my face.

"Sakura!" Ryoga exclaimed, taken aback by my sudden reaction.

"That bitch!" I grunted. "She... she...!"

I was unable to talk any longer. Overwhelmed by sickness and humiliation, I began to cry like a little girl and got into a fetal position. I felt so violated...

"Sakura, I'm sorry..." Ryoga mumbled, holding me tenderly. "I'm so sorry... Please, forgive me... I couldn't rescue you..."

"I hate her..." I finally moaned.

"I saw into her heart..." Camille said, as she fell on her knees, out of breath and out of strength. "She _allowed_ me to see her heart... I felt so much evil... I knew she was going to try to kill us..." She stopped to cough a bit. "I am so sorry I could not defend you, children..."

"We're all to blame, Camille..." Sora said with a shameful voice.

"Guys!" cried our friends, who had finally arrived... too little, too late.

"We felt an intense energy... What happened?" Ryu said. "Sorry we couldn't get here sooner... We were ambushed by Heartless."

"So were we," Wilheim added. "However, we found out where the children went. It seems they had made their way back to Halloween Town."

"Sakura...?" Akane muttered, as she approached us. She put her hand on my shoulder and I shivered.

"Please, don't touch me..." I barely sobbed, holding on to Ryoga more fiercely than before.

"What happened?" she asked concerned.

"You are all hurt..." Tish noticed.

"We were attacked by this woman..." Irina explained. "An evil witch..."

"Maleficent?" they all questioned.

"No. She was wearing red clothes, and attacked with a guitar," Sora said. "She was really strong."

"I-No," Baiken guessed with anger, making me shiver again at the sole mention of her name.

"How do you...?" Donald started.

"Where did she go to?" she pressed, before the duck could explain.

"We do not know," Camille confessed. "She vanished into thin air... We barely kept our lives."

"Shit!" Baiken growled. "That whore's got information that I need and I intend to beat it out of her if I have to."

"I think I've seen her, too," Jam mused. "She came into my restaurant moments before those robots attacked me... Maybe she's got something to do with them?"

"You can ask her after I've beaten the shit out of her," Baiken said. "But that woman's mine."

"I do not mean to challenge you, Baiken..." Camille interrupted. "But if that fiend ever lays hands on one of our friends again, I will personally slay her with my bare hands."

There was silence for a moment and I felt all their eyes on me. The feeling of humiliation grew with their stares. I tried to hide from them by burying my head in Ryoga's chest.

"...Fine," Baiken surprisingly agreed. "You can kill her if you want, but not before she spits out what I want to know."

"...Very well," Camille sighed. "That wretch deserves a most painful death. I will not let her harm Sakura ever again."

"I'll do it," Ryoga quickly intervened. "This is personal..."

"Stop squabbling over who will kill her, please," I muttered, feeling a bit better. Though they had spoken with rage, I felt support and protection within their anger. "Just... let's just drop the subject and hurry up to catch Maleficent and the other three stooges..."

Once again, they all looked silently at me and after a while, they nodded. With a sigh, I held on to Ryoga, who kept promising me that he would never allow harm to fall on me again.

"It's not something you can promise, Ryoga..." I forced myself to say. "But as long as you try to protect me... I'll love you..."

"I'm sorry, Sakura..." he murmured, a single tear escaping his eye. He wiped it off quickly. "I'll make her pay for what she did to you."

"...Thanks..." I mumbled and let out a sob as I started to cry quietly on his chest again...


	18. Chapter 17: Saving Christmas

Hey, all. Again, I'll spare the apologies, because they're becoming redundant. Suffice to say that I have a lot of jobs going on right now – aside from my thesis – and that I recently made a trip to Japan, which absorbed all my time... All that I can say is, I regret nothing :P

Anyway, I hope that, if there's someone out there who's still following this story, you'll enjoy this chapter, though it was very difficult to write. I have to admit that, aside from the usual setbacks, I found myself with a writer's block... Hopefully I'll get that sorted out with the next chapter; a chapter I've been looking forward to write since a long time...

See you later!

_Chapter Seventeen: __Saving Christmas_

_Narrator: Ryoga_

I don't think I have ever been so pissed with a woman in my life – and I'm including the times Ranma made me angry while he was transformed into a girl... How could that monster do that to Sakura? Why did she torture her like that? Why did she make her cry...? The rage burning within me would surely fuel my powers beyond belief. And my anger wouldn't vanish, because I know I would not be able to unleash it upon her.

Sakura was still shaken and held on to me fiercely. I could see she still wanted to cry a lot more, but I think she was a bit ashamed to do so in front of some of our friends. It was unfortunate, because I was sure they'd comfort her... perhaps even better than I could. Then again, if Baiken told her a word about behaving more bravely or shutting up, there was no way I was going to stand it: I would give that woman a black eye. Yet even so, I don't think she would've said something of the sort. By the looks of it, she wanted to kick I-No's ass just as much as I did.

We trekked through the snow and made our way out of Christmas Town. Apparently, our friends had spotted the troublesome trio and the powerful witch heading in that direction. I could only hope that Santa was mistaken. I sure as heck wasn't in the mood for facing Maleficent. I didn't feel precisely in high spirits to fight against a dragon... It didn't look like it was going to be a Merry Christmas after all.

Sooner than we had thought, we were back in Halloween Town. The chill, the snow, and the merry mood turned dark, gloomy, and monstrous. Almost immediately, we saw a trail – four sets of footprints in the dirt. Three of them seemed to belong to short persons, 'cause each footstep was barely away from the next. The fourth trail, however, was left by a taller being. The footsteps themselves were barely visible, as if their owner was as light as a feather. While I wasn't sure if Maleficent could float or not (or even did so while walking), I didn't like the sight of those footprints one bit.

"So... is this Maleficent character really that terrible?" Jam asked, breaking the awkward silence that had reigned for quite a while now. "You all seem very scared of her."

"While she is a dangerous opponent, I am sure we can handle her," Demean assured.

"You're the one to talk. You didn't fight her last time," Sora sighed. "But either way... I don't think she's stronger than... I-No..." He looked at Sakura as she spoke the evil woman's name, hesitating to say it for a split of second.

"Stop worrying about that bitch," Baiken promptly said. "It'll be a while before we see her again, unfortunately."

"Unfortunately?" I muttered, doing my best to stay calm.

"Don't you want to kick her ass?" she asked.

"I... yeah, of course, but—"

"That's what I mean with 'unfortunately'," she cleared out before I could go on. For once, I was grateful for her words. "But enough about that slut. Let's concentrate on what we're going to deal with next."

"Right..."

"Well, assuming that Maleficent is back, we're going to need to be very careful with her fire breath, if she turns into a dragon again," Goofy said.

"She'll be a toughie, but nothing we can't beat. There's nothing Renamark can't eat through, right, Wilheim?" Donald said, turning to our friend.

"Perhaps, but that is still no reason to be overconfident," Will replied. "We have grown stronger, yes; but it is also likely that she has become more powerful as well. We will have to be very wary."

"We still do not know if the witch has revived," Octavius said. "It will be best we stop concentrating in the 'what ifs' and focus on the enemies we will battle once we come face to face with them."

"No harm in being prepared," Goofy said.

We kept following the trails and soon arrived at a familiar scenery. There was a mount before us and its tip curled up against its base, forming a spiral. There were jack-o-lanterns all about, the candles within them burning brightly. This was where I had woken up during our first adventure, right beside Wilheim. It hadn't changed a bit since I had last been there... Except for the children that now dwelled there.

The three young rascals stood at the foot of the mount, looking quite amused. It was very clear that they had been expecting us. Who knew what they had up their sleeves. Whatever it was, I seriously doubted that it would be a childish prank... At least there wasn't any trace of Maleficent.

"That's quite enough, kids," Jack scowled. "We've heard you've been up to no good. That has to stop right now. You'd better go back home."

"Make us!" the boys replied with shrill laughter.

"Insolent children," Tish grumbled. "We are not here to play games. Where is the woman who was with you? Do not try my patience, for I do not have much left."

"The scary lady just left. Sorry you missed her!" the girl squealed.

"Where is she?" I questioned.

"If you want to find out, you'll have to beat us!" laughed the boy in the devil's suit.

"Don't be stupid," Ranma chuckled. "You three can't even..." His voice was suddenly lost as a new monster appeared behind the bizarre mount. It seemed like an enormous triangular head with two arms. It wasn't grotesque at all... Just plain weird. It was like the head of a strange puppet separated from its body. Below it, hung a cage where it quickly placed the three miscreants. It let out a menacing roar, letting us know that it wasn't going to screw around with us. "...Dang," Ranma muttered.

Before any of us could do a thing, the creature grabbed one of the children – the witch-girl – and ate her. She didn't seem frightened at all as it took her to its mouth. It was almost as if she knew she wasn't going to be harmed... We could only hope that would be the case, because even though these kids were giving us a terrible headache, it wasn't like we wanted them dead...

As if it had gained strength by consuming the girl, the monster let out another roar and floated high into the air, into the dark night, where we could barely see it.

"Great," I grumbled. "What the heck is it going to do next?"

The Heartless answered my question by immediately letting loose a bunch of bright spheres that slowly, almost laboriously, fell to the ground. Instinctively, we know those things couldn't mean good news...

"Don't let one of those things touch you!" Sora yelled. "Who knows what they do!"

He was only half-right regarding that. We all knew what was going to happen the moment the first of those spheres touched the ground: it blew up as if it were a gas-filled barrel. The shockwave was fierce and it knocked down those of us who happened to be near. I fell sideways and my head went right through one of the pumpkins nearby. At least my face didn't catch fire...

"Ryoga, are you okay??" Sakura asked, alarmed.

"I'm fine," I replied, shaking my skull. "Damn Heartless... Now I'm really pissed off!"

"It's too far up... We have to make it descend so we can all have a go!" Ranma said.

"Then let's arrange a firing squad!" Ken roared.

Understanding what he meant, Ryu, Ranma, Wilheim, and myself lined up with him and focused our energy, releasing it in the form of projectiles. Sakura still seemed too altered to join us... Yet Demean helped by letting loose deadly, accurate arrows powered up by Tish's magic. Donald lent a hand as well with fiery spells...

The monster was quick, but the amount of projectiles proved to be too much for it and he was eventually hit by a few fireballs. Nevertheless, the cursed beast refused to give in. Seeing this, Camille took off to the skies, soon followed by Adrian, who used a good deal of his strength to deploy his wings. Those two were just the thing we needed: the monster was unable to unleash more explosive spheres; since he had to deal with so many things at once, it couldn't concentrate...

"Now you're mine..." I growled and threw myself against the monster with the rest of my friends.

We received the beast with a flurry of potent attacks the moment it descended. It had no chance of defending itself, since there were now so many of us attacking it. All it could do was try to fly away from us, but whatever route it took, it was useless: one of our friends would block its escape and beat it, allowing the rest of us to catch on and keep pummeling it.

Eventually, though, the fiendish creature let loose a shockwave of energy that knocked us all down. Although we were no hurt, the Heartless had enough time to fly high into the sky and attempt another approach against us...

The monster spat the girl it had swallowed earlier and put her back in the cage. Afterwards, it grabbed the fat little boy and ate him instead. Then, instead of retreating to the high skies, it lunged against us, trying to bite our heads off as it went.

Things would've turned real bad for us if we wouldn't have been half-expecting this. The Heartless had figured out it we were going to eat him for breakfast if he remained close to us and did not change his strategy. We realized it was only a matter of time before it remembered it had a really big mouth that could cut up an entire cow in two...

The monster went straight after me, its huge teeth going up and down repeatedly. Thankfully I had already taken out my steel umbrella and used it to block the beast's powerful jaws... Unfortunately, it didn't stop moving forward and I got a bit careless...

"RYOGA!!" Sakura cried.

I gulped and pushed up on my umbrella as hard as I could to keep the monster's teeth from closing up on me while pushing myself away from the beast's throat. Somehow, I had the feeling that if it swallowed me, it wouldn't spit me back out like it had done with the girl...

"Oh, crap..." I mumbled.

"Let him go, you stupid beast!" Sakura yelled and hit the monster as hard as she could. However, the Heartless refused to let me escape. Instead, it began to fly away... "No, no! Ryoga!"

"Damn it!" Sora cursed. "Hang on, Ryoga! We'll get you out of there!"

"All right...!" I cried and then said to the monster: "It's not going to happen, so you're better off releasing those kids and letting me out!"

I felt how the Heartless received a great deal of punches and kicks. My friends were desperately trying to get me out of the cavernous mouth before I became its lunch. But the Heartless was not going to let me go so easily and my strength was fading. I had to hurry up... It had to have a weak spot!

"Get out of there, Ryoga!" Ranma yelled.

"It's not like I'm reading a freaking book in here, Ranma!" I replied angrily.

"It's trying to run away!" Sakura cried desperately.

"Ryoga, the joint!" Ukyo suddenly exclaimed. "Hit it on its joint!"

"What??" I wailed.

"The joint!" she repeated. "The spot where the maxilla and the jawbone connect!"

I quickly looked for the place she mentioned. When I found it, I realized this would be an all-or-nothing situation. If Ukyo had the right idea, the beast would let me go... but if it didn't, I would lose my footing and it then would swallow me effortlessly.

"...Can't you guys hit it?"

"We don't have a clear view!" Siegfried answered.

"Damn it..." I muttered. I didn't have a choice. I took a deep breath and hoped that Ukyo's plan would work. Gathering all my strength, I let loose a fierce kick to the joint. I don't think I had ever kicked something or someone harder in my entire life. "TAKE THIS!!"

I was lucky. The Heartless' jaw went numb and I finally managed to slip out of the monster's mouth. The downside was that we were really high...

"SHIT!!" I yelled and fell face-first into the mount, practically getting a nose-job as I went.

"Ryoga! Thank God!" Sakura shouted, running toward me.

"I knew it'd work!" Ukyo proudly exclaimed.

"Yeah, but what you didn't know is how much it'd hurt," I moaned, unable to lift my face off the dirt.

"Stop complaining. You're still alive," Donald quacked, healing me with a spell.

"Not so tough now that you can't bite, huh?" Baiken jeered while the monster tried to get away, its mouth still inevitably open. "Get the fuck over here!" She flung her claw at it and caught its jaw and then pulled it at us with incredible strength. When it was close enough, she took out her blade and slashed it once; then, she leapt after it and unveiled the sharp iron fan she kept under her long sleeve. "YOUZANSEN!!" she wailed, cutting the beast again with a wide movement of her fan, and was followed by a storm of attacks that came from the rest of my friends.

Unfortunately, one of the punches re-arranged the monster's jaw. However, instead of trying to chop our heads off with its teeth, the beast flew high into the sky as fast as it could and spat out the girl, switching her for the final boy, dressed in a devil costume.

"Now what?" Leon mumbled, tightening the grip on the hilt of his blade.

The beast's eyes glimmered for a split of second and then a rain of fire fell on us. Flaming hail fell from the sky and we hastily looked for cover from the deadly attack. My steel umbrella once again proved its worth by protecting my body, as well as Sakura's, for I quickly got a hold of her and dragged her by my side. We got as close to the ground as possible while the rest of our friends struggled to find some cover. Both Donald and Tish managed to conjure some protective spells that helped some of our friends. But there were some who were unable to take cover or to find something to protect themselves and ended up rather wounded.

"I am growing tired of this game!" Octavius growled and dashed at the monster, his huge body withstanding the storm. He was like a tank, taking all the shots of the enemy's frontline, yet he didn't even slow down. The monster realized that the were-bear wasn't going to let its attack stop him and began to back away from the frenzied man; but as the Heartless retreated, Octavius reached for his shotgun and aimed for the monster's mouth, knocking it away with a single shot.

The beast wailed in pain and flew back even more, while shooting huge fireballs from the palms of its hands. The potency of these blasts was too great for Octavius to handle and in the end, it was necessary for him to seek cover as well.

"How are supposed to approach it now?" Akane muttered.

"Elf-angel, or whatever the heck you are..." Baiken politely said. "How about another one of your songs??"

"I-I suppose..." Irina stuttered.

"Let's give her some cover, guys!" Ken exclaimed.

Donald immediately protected her with a wind spell and Tish gave it strength with her own magic. Catherine created an icy wall about her which, although seemingly fragile, would no doubt help. Then Goofy, Siegfried, and I stood around her, each of us using our shields (my case, my umbrella) to fend off any incoming fiery blasts. Meanwhile, the rest of our companions did their best to get the monster's attention.

Irina started to sing the same cold melody she had chanted before. Slowly, the air began to grow cold and it started to snow. Our newest friend sang with much more energy than before, which only meant that she was using a lot more power this time around. The monster realized that the change in the wind was all Irina's doing and started to attack her while running away from our friends.

Our shields withstood the shots just fine, but there were too many of them and it was difficult to stop them all. Those that got through us crashed against Catherine's icy wall. Like I said, it wasn't that a big protection: it only took about three fireballs before it utterly melted. Fortunately, Donald's incantation was a lot more resistant, thanks to the fairy's help, I guess. The shots didn't do squat to it, giving her more than enough time to finish her song.

Once again, the icy woman appeared out of nowhere and blew her deadly wind at the beast. Its fireballs turned into smoke while the rest of us started to freeze... The monster wailed in terror and tried to run away from the chilling winds, but it was too late. First, the cage became covered with ice (the children inside were perfectly safe... I really have no idea how Irina did that); then, the monster's arms; and then, it started to chatter its huge teeth. After a few seconds, it became perfectly still. Finally, it fell to the ground and shattered like a vase, allowing the little kid inside to escape its interior.

"Oh, no!" the boys cried. "We messed up!"

"Indeed you have," Jack grumbled, approaching them. "Now you're going to tell me why you caused all this trouble."

But before he could lay his hands on the children, they ran away, while the girl exclaimed: "It doesn't matter! Oogie Boogie must have already recovered his full strength!" Though Jack had started to chase after them, he became still the moment he heard this.

"...Oogie Boogie?" he repeated weakly.

"...Oogie? The old pillow-sack we fought against last time?" Sora asked. "Oogie Boogie...? It must be some sort of joke, right?"

"It seems everyone is finding a way of coming back to life these days," Donald grumbled.

"It must be Maleficent's doing," Ryu guessed. "I'm certain she's alive now."

"That's just great," Sakura sighed. "So what's the plan, now?"

"I say we follow the critters' tracks," Jam said. "That should lead us to Maleficent. Then, when we find her, we kick the crap out of her. It's simple enough."

"Easier said than done," I said. "But I guess it's the only choice we have right now."

"By the looks of it, the tracks head straight to the trees with the doors to the different worlds," Jack announced. "Oh, no... They've surely gone after Sandy Claws!"

"Ugh... Do we really have to go through this shit again?" Baiken grumbled. "There's nothing that tells us that these guys' plan is to get to—"

"Jack! Jack!" Sally's voice interrupted. She ran across the pumpkin field and met us at the mount's foot. "Jack, it's Santa Claus! Oogie Boogie is back, and he's kidnapped him!"

"Oh, no...!" Jack said, out of breath.

"Fine!" Baiken shouted, rolling her eye. "So the assholes did go after Santa Claus! Let's get back to Christmas Town then."

Hoping that we would not be too late, we raced back to the place with all the trees to the different worlds... Those stupid kids... I always thought they were just simple trouble-makers.

"We're so stupid!" Sora groaned. "Someone should've stayed behind to watch over Santa! Some fine body-guards we make!"

"We'll blame ourselves later," Leon said. "Right now it's best we concentrate on saving Santa Claus."

"What do you suppose they want with him?" questioned Akane.

"I knew that the Heartless would be looking for him," Ken said. "It's like I told you: Santa's a great source of good energy."

"Do you suppose they're trying to turn him into a Heartless, or something?" Goofy asked.

"Who cares? They're up to no good, that's for sure," Ranma said.

"I hope we're not too late..." Felicia moaned.

But let's face it: things have never been simple. And by simple I mean that they're always much more difficult than they appear. I was beginning to think that we were having good luck by not running into any Heartless or Nobodies or whatever... so, naturally, a group of enemies received us right when we were about to enter Christmas Town.

"Don't these guys ever take a break??" Jam wailed.

"Stupid Heartless!" Sora shouted.

"Stop cursing and get a move on!" Baiken exclaimed. "Never mind these guys! Leave them to me." She turned to Ukyo and Wilheim and added: "You two stay with me. Let's give the others some cover."

"If you stay, then so will I," Siegfried said. "I'll help out."

"We will aid too," Demean said, as he, Tish, and Merryck readied themselves for battle.

"Okay, I'll stay behind as well," Leon said. "Sora, you and the rest get back to Halloween Town and save Santa Claus!"

"Okay, will do!" Sora exclaimed, seemingly pleased by our friends' offering to remain behind and repel the fiends. "Just open the way for us!"

"Stand aside, then," Wilheim snarled. "Let us cut these insects down!"

With that said, he and Ukyo leapt into the center of the battlefield and unleashed a flurry of devastating attacks. As always, hers were so fast that we could barely see them and his were brutal and merciless. Soon, they opened a breach large enough to allow us passage into Christmas Town. They covered our backs and blocked the many waves of Heartless that followed... We had to hurry so that we could go back there and lend them a hand.

The ground was covered in snow once more and the chill of winter hit us even harder than before. This time, we didn't feel the happy place's welcoming touch. It seemed that with Santa kidnapped, the atmosphere had turned gloomy and dim. Though the lights of the houses were still turned on, a shadow engulfed and consumed them and we could hardly see what lay in front of us.

"Oh, give us a break!" Sora grumbled, tightening the grip around the Keyblade. "They're trying to delay us!"

"Come on; the Heartless aren't smart enough to try to delay us," Ken replied.

"Whatever their reason for attacking us, they are hindering us," Octavius said. "Yet we must not fall into this trap. Sora – you and some others get to the building behind Santa Clause's home: black smoke is rising from there and I smell a familiar evil lurking inside. Get going, and I will watch your back."

"I'm staying, too," Jam said.

"Come on, Sora: I'll go with you," Ryu said.

"All right..." the boy mumbled reluctantly. After all, none of us liked the idea of parting from each other. If another I-No-incident happened, who knows what would come to pass with all of us battling in different fields, unable to go and aid another group or to receive help...

In the end, Sakura and I decided to tag along with Sora, Ryu, Donald, Jack, and Goofy to Santa's house, and were followed by Ranma and Akane. The rest of the guys stayed behind and formed a wall to keep the Heartless – which had finally come out of their hiding place – from catching up with us. Hopefully, we wouldn't have to break into another sub-group again... There were too few of us left.

We reached Santa's house and hurried to the rooms in the back, where the smoke seemed to be coming from. We checked all the rooms, but there was no trace of Santa, Oogie, Maleficent, or the Heartless. There was only one more door to check...

Sora opened it with an angry kick and we quickly stepped inside. As we looked about the stance, we realized we had entered in what seemed to be a distorted version of Santa's Toy Factory. There were several transporting bands operating, and some others seemed to be shut down. There were many fluorescent graffiti on the walls depicting skulls, jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, and stuff of the sort. There were also many bats hanging from the ceiling, and some of them even fought over candy cane. Some parts of the walls were riddled with deadly pikes, grinders, and lit ovens. On the transporting band, there were also guillotines and gigantic fists wreaking havoc... It was just like what we had seen upon arriving at Halloween Town a while ago – only backwards and a lot creepier.

"Ah-hah! Look who it is!" exclaimed a mocking voice from above one of the transporting bands. "Well, well, Jack! I didn't think I'd see you again so soon!"

Though I had never seen that bad guy before in my life, those who had destroyed him in the past recognized him immediately.

"Oogie!" Jack growled. "What are you doing here? What did you do to Sandy Claws?"

"Sandy Claws?" Oogie mumbled, looking genuinely confused. "What are you talking about? The only one I've got here is this fatty dressed in red." He pointed below and we saw Santa Claus, who had both feet and hands bound with ropes, struggling to free himself, or at least to roll off the transporting band that was slowly transporting him to one of the grinders I mentioned earlier...

"Santa, hang on!" Sora cried. "Let him go, Oogie, or we'll have to teach you a lesson again!"

"Ah, another lesson!" Oogie snarled. "I remember... Of course I remember!" He abandoned the platform he had been standing on and leapt to the ground, landing right beside Santa. We raised our weapons and remained alert, waiting for the right time to strike without risking Santa's life... "Oh, yeah... It's the only thing I remember! I remember you, and you, and you, and you, and...!" he barked, pointing at Jack, Sora, Donald, and Goofy respectively. Then, his voice trailed off and he remained lost in his thoughts for a few seconds. "...Well, it doesn't matter! Whatever you did to me, you're going to pay! Firstly, I'm going to make a hamburger out of this fat fellow, and then—" He stopped short again as he looked over Santa's head. A single leg lay – one would almost say – coquettishly beside the transporting band, on the floor. A pretty nasty sight to any of us, I'm sure... but Oogie Boogie whistled and combed... the upper part of his head, I guess, with his hand. "Hello there, pretty, pretty!" he cooed, stepping down from the transporting band and walking over to the member.

"...What the hell?? How can he get excited over a dismembered leg??" Sakura whispered, making a disgusted face.

"I think I now know the full extension of the word 'jerk'," Akane added, just as sickened as my girlfriend.

"That doesn't matter! Now's our chance to—" Ryu began to say, but quickly hushed as we all noticed how Sally stepped out of one of the shadowy corners and hastily made her way to Santa Clause's side.

She helped the man to his feet and then they both skipped away from Oogie Boogie, successfully reaching us.

"Great thinking, Sally!" I exclaimed in a low voice.

"What?? Do you think you can make a fool out of me?!" roared Oogie Boogie as he realized he had just been fooled by the most disturbing take on the oldest trick in the book. He started to chase off after Sally and Santa, but we got in the way and stared at Oogie menacingly.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sora cockily questioned.

"...GRRAAHH!!" Oogie roared, leaping onto a platform which had a big control panel. He pulled some levers and pressed some buttons and suddenly, the entire factory came to life.

Every transporting band began to move. Presents started to come out of the machines, all with skull-riddled wrappings. They looked more like Halloween surprise gifts more than Christmas presents... either way, we figured it would be best for us to stay away from them.

Now, with Oogie Boogie being so high above the ground, yet not too far, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for us to bring him down with energy waves. By the looks of it, he could've had a white-and-red target painted on his belly to make things just a tad easier. We all had the same idea and fired away. But all was not as simple as it looked... apparently, there was a magical force field protecting Oogie Boogie's platform. All our projectiles were absorbed by that mysterious wall; we didn't even make a dent on the walls with them.

"You thought you could outsmart Oogie Boogie?" the enemy cackled. "Think again! The fun is just starting!"

"I totally didn't see that one coming..." Ranma murmured.

"I bet Maleficent left that behind to protect him," I said.

"Who cares? Let's just finish this!" Donald quacked.

We soon realized this would be easier said than done... The ceiling – just the part right above us – started to shake. None of us waited to see what was going to happen, luckily. We moved on mere instinct – throwing ourselves at one of the transporting bands, while pushing Sally and Santa out of the factory, we just barely escaped a squished cockroach's fate. And right then, we heard a loud buzzing noise fill the room...

"What's that??" Sakura shouted, while we all ran in the opposite direction the transporting bands went in. Despite her question, we all knew what was going on: Oogie had electrified the floor. Getting off the transporting band was probably not the best idea at the moment... But that didn't mean that it was a good place to be in.

"Son of a bitch..." I muttered, noticing one of the guillotines moving right above us. It stopped short and went down in the blink of an eye. "SAKURA!!" I yelled in horror as I realized she was right underneath the blade.

Fortunately, Ryu caught her and leapt to a neighboring track with her. They continued to run as fast as they could, because – I forgot to mention this earlier – should we stop our race, there were unwelcoming grinders waiting for us at the end of the transporting bands... It was like Satan's toy factory, or something.

"Are you all right??" I yelled at Sakura.

"Save your breath, Ryoga! We're going to need it!" Ranma replied.

The gigantic fist began to move as well and started to pound on the track time and again. Sora, Akane, and Goofy were forced to leap to the third neighboring track, while Donald joined Ryu and Sakura. Jack, Ranma, and I had enough space now (which wasn't so big, truth be told) to properly evade Oogie Boogie's booby-traps, which also included exploding presents.

"Hah! You look like caged hamsters!" the fiend jeered. "Maybe I could train you to be my pets!"

"That's enough, Oogie!" Jack called, not appearing the least tired.

"It'll be enough once you're all cooked and ready for dinner!"

"You fat blob!" I roared. "I'll just blow this place up with the Explosion Point technique!"

"Do that, Ryoga, and we'll fry!" Ranma yelled. "Try to calm down!"

"...Damn it!!"

It became clear to me that this wasn't a matter that we would solve by just using brute force. Ranma was right: we had to think of a way to take Oogie Boogie down without dying in the process... But what was there to do? How could we get around that force field?

The explosive presents kept coming out of the machine, blowing up here and there, and the guillotine and other death machines kept forcing us to dodge while running for our lives ceaselessly... We would become tired sooner than later at this rate and would be turned into hamburgers by the grinders behind us.

"Stop this now, Oogie!" Jack demanded, yet failed to sound the least threatening this time.

"I can't! You can only stop the grinders if they get stuck with one thing... you! Ha, ha!" the enemy cackled.

The hatches kept opening up and serving the exploding surprises. I really didn't know what to do... I was so worried and enraged that I could barely think. Luckily, though, not all of my friends felt as hopeless as I did.

"Ryoga..." Ranma huffed next to my ear. "Blast the hatch when it opens up!"

"Why don't you do it?" I retorted angrily.

"Because your energy wave will be stronger, idiot!" he replied.

I growled back, yet realized he had a point. I focused power into my hands as quickly as I could, and the moment the hatch opened, I let loose my Shishi Houkodan. The projectile made its way into the hatch and broke some machinery inside. That's all I managed to see, for then, my blast's kickback knocked me down and I headed straight to the grinders, unable to get up.

"NO, RYOGA!!" Sakura wailed.

Thankfully, Ranma was on his toes and immediately got a hold of my foot and started to run even faster, thus managing me to keep me away from the grinders. The downside is that my back suffered because of the band... really bad.

"Get up, I can't do all the work!" Ranma howled.

"Shut up!!" I screamed, feeling how the skin was peeling from my body. I guess I now knew how Siegfried had felt when he and Wilheim had gone through the Temple of Pandora...

"Here!" Donald quacked, casting a quick windy spell on me that picked me up from the ground and brought me back to my feet for another race against death. I struggled as hard as I could not to fall again. The pain was terrible... one of the worst I had felt in my life.

"It worked, Ryoga!" Jack said. "Look!"

I barely lifted my head and noticed Oogie Boogie wasn't laughing anymore. He looked a bit concerned... And this was because of what I had done with my blast: while I had not caused too much damage to the machinery that kept throwing out the presents and the other nasty surprises, I had actually broken a few of the beams that supported the platform Oogie stood on to remain out of our reach. It had come down just a few inches, but his worried expression could only mean good news.

"Hah, I knew it!" Ranma yelled, triumphantly. "Do it again!"

I was about to tell him to go to hell, but the moment he heard this, Oogie moved one of the many levers on his control panel and moved his platform away from us. Now, he was above the track that had Sakura, Ryu, and Donald on it.

"Come back, you coward!!" I screamed as loud as I could... which wasn't loud enough to intimidate a kitten.

"We'll handle this, Ryoga!" Donald said. "Ryu, do your thing!"

"No!" Sakura intervened. "He might lose his footing and fall, like Ryoga!"

"It's too risky..." Ryu admitted in a whisper.

"A-ha! I've got it!" Jack laughed. With a hop, he effortlessly leapt to the neighboring band and raced hard against it to get right to the hatch. As one of the presents came out, the skeleton reached for it with his bony hands and tossed it back, aiming high so that it wouldn't fall back on the track.

The boom came and Oogie shook on his platform as it dropped a few more inches.

"Oh, this isn't fair!" he exclaimed.

"Great thinking, Jack!" Sora laughed. "I guess it's payback time now, sack of bugs!"

"You annoying brats!"

In a desperate attempt to thwart our tactic, Oogie Boogie sped up the machines. The change was very abrupt and we barely managed to pick up our footing to stay away from the grinders. Not only that, the guillotines and giant fists started to come down upon us much more often than before. My friends were in prime shape, so it wasn't so tough for them to keep up. However, I had lost a lot of blood thanks to Ranma's brilliant plan – it was starting to become nigh impossible for me to keep up the frantic pace we were subjected to.

"Damn it, Ryoga! Try to keep up!!" Ranma pressed.

"Shut up...!" I groaned, starting to feel woozy.

"Come on!" Sora shouted. He leapt onto our track, grabbed my hand, and helped me to stay away from the grinder. "We're almost done, Ryoga!"

"Hold on, Ryoga!" added Akane. Right then, she managed to get a hold of one of the explosive presents and throw it back from whence it came. It was a very risky move on her part, because she waited a few seconds so that the package would explode inside the machine. Whatever the case, Oogie Boogie's platform came down a few more inches...

"Oh, darn!!" he exclaimed, getting more worried by the second and sped up the machines _even more_.

This time, the speed was so intense that, rather than pulling me to safety, I was beginning to drag Sora to the grinder with me.

"Donald, lend them a hand!" Ryu shouted. I noticed he was starting to tire. The only one that seemed in one piece still was Jack.

"I'll... I'll try!" the duck said, casting a pretty weak wind spell that gave us a bit of a nudge, yet nothing more than that.

"What? Are you losing your breath?? But it's just a little race!" Oogie laughed.

"I've got another idea," Jack announced. With a skillful leap, he got a hold of one of the guillotine's joints. His bony hands quickly unscrewed the blade... seconds later, it fell on the track – nearly cutting me and Sora in half – and was swallowed by the grinder. It immediately started to make funny sounds...

"Why, Jack, why??" Oogie moaned. His mood swings were amazing...

Seeing as how the grinder was about to blow up, I realized this was a good chance to try something incredibly crazy and stupid... Yet it was a scheme zany enough to work... Well, that and I was seconds away from passing out and was utterly desperate to end the battle...

"Try to run faster, Ryoga!" Sora pressed. "That thing's going to explode!"

"I know," I mumbled, letting go of his hand and allowing the band to carry me straight to the grinder.

Right about the time my friends yelled at me to run faster, demand what the hell was I thinking, and all those sorts of things, I leapt forward as hard as I could, aiming to synchronize my jump with the grinder's explosion... And, thank the Heavens, the machine blew up right about that moment. Though I felt as if a bull had rammed its head against my legs, the shockwave sent me flying right over Sora and Ranma's heads and straight into the hatch. With the last bit of strength I had, I delved my finger right into the metal wall below Oogie Boogie's platform.

"EXPLOSION POINT!!"

That was all it took for Oogie Boogie's platform to come crashing down. Thankfully, the rest of the factory stopped working as well – the electrified floor, too. The best part by far, however, was that the magical barrier that had protected Oogie during our battle simply remained in place as the fat slob went crashing down on the tracks, just behind me. The only thing that didn't go so well was the explosion itself: one piece of metal flew up at tremendous speed right at my face and left my head spinning. You know how the Looney Toons see birdies or stars whenever someone smacks them in the head with a hammer? I now knew what it felt... I mean, I may not have seen a canary circling my cranium, but someone did turn off the lights for a second there.

During those second when I was on the ground, shaking my skull, forcing me not to pass out, I could only faintly hear how Oogie Boogie was getting the snot beaten out of him by the rest of my buddies. Sticking with cartoons, I would've imagined that if I could've been able to see what was going on, I would've found myself looking at a huge ball of smoke with arms and legs coming out every now and then, along with Oogie Boogie's beaten face.

Suddenly, I heard a particular noise... As if someone had torn an old pillow apart. And this wasn't very far from the truth. I finally regained my sight and saw how Oogie Boogie moaned in horror and tried to run away from my friends... a big mistake. Sora held one of the fibers that held him together. Oogie's cowardice became his undoing; his "skin" was torn apart, revealing his nasty insides: a body of repulsing bugs.

"Look what you've done!!" he cried in a shrill voice as the insects that composed him fell to the ground in pieces, trying to run away from us in an agonizing, last race.

Most of them fell dead before advancing a single yard. In the end, only one of them survived: a big, ugly green one, who kept shouting God knows what in that shrill voice... Yet not even this one survived; as it made its way to the door, a fat, black boot stomped it – it was Santa's.

"That's two out of two..." Sora sighed, sitting on the ground, exhausted. "Are you okay, Ryoga?" he asked, turning to me.

"Yeah, I'll be fine..." I answered.

"Ryoga, that was so stupid!" Sakura shouted, throwing her arms around me. "What were you thinking?? You almost got yourself killed!"

"I... I guess I wasn't thinking..." I admitted. I really can't deny the plan just... popped into my mind in a second.

"Damn right you weren't!"

"Well, in his defense, it did work..." Ranma said.

"That's not the point!"

"We all have to take risks, you know... It's not like this is a... I think they're calling me from over there," Ranma mumbled and got away from my girl, who was eyeing him very, very angrily.

"Try to be more careful next time, Ryoga," Akane said, as she and Sakura helped me to my feet.

"Whatever the case, you did pretty well," Ryu intervened. "A dangerous stunt, yes; but highly effective, nonetheless."

"Yes, he saved our skin, but that doesn't change the fact that he might've died, Ryu. You boys better start getting that into your heads," Sakura grumbled, effectively shutting up Donald, Goofy, and Jack, who looked like they were going to make a compliment...

"Oh, what a mess..." Santa sighed, as he and Sally approached us. He didn't look happy at all, even though now he was safe... Yet I then realized that I had sort of blown up his toy factory...

"Dang..." I muttered to myself. "I'm sorry, Santa..." I apologized, turning to him.

"Oh, no need to apologize, Ryoga," he answered, flashing a little smile. "I know why you did it... Rather, I should be thanking you for putting an end to that monster's madness."

"But the factory... What are you going to do now...?"

"Relax, my boy. It is a tragedy, but it can be fixed. We have a week before Christmas. I reckon that's more than enough time to rebuild it and improve it, what's more."

"Are you both okay?" Jack questioned, placing a concerned hand on Sally's shoulder.

"Yes, thank you, Jack..." Sally murmured. She hesitated for a few moments before speaking again. "Jack... This is what happens when you try to meddle with other holidays... You're the Pumpkin King! You should be making plans for the next Halloween...!" Another pause. She gulped and then said: "I'm sorry, Jack... It's just that I—"

"It's all right, Sally. Mr. Santa Claus already told me the same thing," he gently interrupted. "Don't worry – I'm the Pumpkin King and always will be... but there's no reason not to have a little Christmas party in Halloween Town, is there? No Santa suit, though," he concluded, with a chuckle, and Sally laughed with relief.

"I guess that's that, then..." Sora said. "With Oogie Boogie gone, the Heartless will weaken. Now all that's missing is finding that keyhole and sealing it."

"It'd be nice if we rested a bit, first," Donald declared.

"Well, you're more than welcome to stay in my house," Santa offered. "You've done a great deal for me and my town. The least I can do is to offer you a place to rest."

"...Really?" Sora mumbled with excitement.

"Well, thanks, Santa..." I sighed. "For my part, I could really use some rest."

_(Change of scene)_

Unfortunately, Santa's house was too small for the whole lot of us. But that didn't stop us from agreeing to remain a few days within Christmas Town. Apparently, while we had been busy taking out Oogie Boogie, the rest of our friends had battled against a lot of Heartless, and were pretty tired and wanted a few days off. Of course, that didn't mean we would scratch our bellies all day long – we still had to find that keyhole and were willing to take some time to get to it... Obviously, we didn't want any more monsters to come and bother Santa again. Luckily we didn't wage another battle during our stay there.

My friends started resting as soon as Santa offered his home. Though we didn't fit in his little house, there were magical fields all about and we were able to sleep inside the Gummi ships. Part of Santa's thanks consisted in giving us warm clothes, which were extremely welcome. The food was top-notch, too. Despite not being Christmas yet, we still ate as if we were at the banquet – stuffed turkeys, all sorts of salads, roasted loin of pork and vegetables, and all kinds of delicious desserts; all with fat up the wazoo, but with the cold weather, the extra calories were an absolute God-sent... Not to mention that we had all the cookies we could it, milk included. However, regardless of all this accommodations, it took me a bit to get into a cheery mood and actually get a bit of rest.

Quite simply, I was still pretty upset about what had happened with I-No... I mean, Sakura seemed to be in much higher spirits. It looked to me that she had almost gotten over what had happened... As for me, I felt like crap. The reason's pretty simple: I hadn't been able to save her... To be honest, I think that, if Camille wouldn't have been there... if I-No would've wanted to kill Sakura or to do... even worse things to her... she would've gotten away with it.

I know that none of that happened, thankfully. But what bothered me was that she was on the loose. We were bound to bump into her sooner or later... And all I could think of was what would happen then? What if I ran into her by myself...? What if Sakura did...? All those thoughts kept me from enjoying myself for a while. I wished Baiken had gotten there before she left... Maybe she would've managed to kill her.

It was already dark on the first day and almost everyone seemed to be having a good time. They were either building snowmen, doing angels in the snow, or having snowball fights. Apparently, I was the only one in a rather depressed mood. I was sitting by myself, away from everyone else, recapitulating the issues I mentioned in my mind. I simply couldn't find any rest. I felt that if I dropped my guard, I-No would swoop down from the black night and kidnap Sakura, or something like that... No way I would get into a snowball fight with those thoughts haunting me.

So there I was, with my head lying on my hands, sitting quietly on Santa's porch. Sighing repeatedly, I refused to move – not even to grab one of the best cookies I had ever tasted in my entire life. Even though I really needed someone to talk to, I didn't feel like asking my friends for a friendly ear when they were having so much fun. But after a while, Jack – who had gone back to Halloween Town to drop off Sally and then returned to remain with us just in case any help was needed – approached me and sat down, while chuckling happily, his skull covered in snow.

"Felicia's agility has grown over time, it seems," he said. "I just can't seem to get her with any snowballs..." He sighed and then asked: "What's wrong, Ryoga?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing... Just resting..." I lied, and quite unconvincingly, too.

"Come on, Ryoga... You've been depressed since the day started," he argued. "We've all noticed, you know... We figured you'd want to be by yourself a bit, but it's been nearly six hours... Come on: you know you can tell me."

"Well, it's about Sakura... I'm worried about her," I sighed and then explained the whole I-No incident.

"I see..." he said with a thoughtful glance.

"Camille's a monster and she just barely managed to put a halt to her," I went on. "What am I supposed to do if she shows up again? I feel so... impotent, you know... Supposedly, I have to look after Sakura... I have to take care of her: to make sure no harm comes to her. But with that crazy woman running around... I don't know what good I can do."

"I understand... But if you think about it, it might not be so bad," he declared.

I stared long and hard at him before answering.

"Forgive me if I'm not as optimistic as you, Jack... But, how do you suppose it isn't that bad?"

"If there's one thing we all learned from our final battle, is that there's always a way to defeat an opponent who may seem undefeatable, at first," Jack explained. "All you need to do is to be patient and to fight with your head."

"That's... That's good advice, Jack. But the thing is, that woman is pretty smart too... It might not be that simple."

Jack sighed and remained quiet for a bit before speaking again.

"Have you ever heard of the self-fulfilling prophecy?"

"Huh?" I muttered.

"It's what happens when you fear something so much that you do – though you may not notice consciously – everything in your power for it to happen." He looked at me and smiled. "See, Ryoga, you can't spend your whole life fearing that something bad will happen. Live the moment and don't think about what could've been or will be. When the time comes, then worry about it, but not before. Otherwise, you'll just live in fear and you won't be prepared to face the challenge when it arrives."

"...So... you're saying I should be more easygoing?" I murmured hesitantly. "I don't know if I can stop worrying so easily..."

"Do try. You can start by getting up and playing with your buddies for a while."

"...I'll try, I guess," I sighed.

"Remember that you've got good friends also, Ryoga. Together you'll be fine. Even if all seems hopeless, just do your best."

"Okay... I'll remember that. Thanks, Jack... I'll join you in a moment. I'm just going to eat a few cookies..."

"Sounds good. We'll be waiting for you," he said and left me.

Although I wasn't euphoric, that small chat with Jack made me feel a little better. Still, I felt I needed one or two candies to give my fading good humor a boost.

On my way to pick up some food, I saw Octavius, who seemed to be... meditating in the snow. I really had no idea why he was out there, when he could be inside Santa's house, next to a fireplace... More spiritual, I'd suppose. Either way, I walked by his side and greeted him. His glance was lost in the evening's stars. I was thinking about leaving him and go get my cookies, when all those things Jack said started to bug me.

He had been right. I had friends, and they would no doubt risk their lives for me. Octavius had done so in the past. It was only fair that I had a word with him to find out what was the matter... I hated to see Felicia practically spit on him every time he said a word – even though he deserved it. Maybe I could help...

"So... what's been new with you lately?" I asked.

"I have been with you during all this time. I have nothing new to share," he answered dryly.

"Okay, I was just being polite," I said. "What's wrong, Octavius? You've always been cold and distant, but this time you've outdone yourself... Why are you so mad at us?"

"Mad?" he mumbled, glaring at me for an instant. "As you have already established, I am a cold person, and there is no place for feelings in the body of a cold person. I am not mad. I am simply indifferent."

"That's a load of crap, and you know it," I replied. "You _do_ have feelings toward us... Well, maybe not towards me... But you do care about Felicia, and there's no way you can prove me wrong on that." He remained silent and so I kept on talking. "I remember what happened during our last journey... Don't you think that we've forgotten about the Wrath of the Forests. Don't get me wrong: I don't blame you for what happened to Siegfried... But that change you went through; that's because you got scared when Felicia got wounded. You care about her, all right. More than you'll ever admit. And I distinctly recall you crying when Wilheim killed himself to save Ukyo." I paused for a moment and then concluded: "Don't try to sell me that story about not caring for us. The real question is: why are you so distant now?"

"I have always been distant," he said calmly.

"Octavius, you're not helping... I'm trying to lend a hand here..."

"I am sorry if I am not cooperating with your interrogatory – but I have important things to worry about."

"I'm not walking away just like that," I declared firmly and sat down beside him. "You're always pushing people away. I'm trying to be nice and to help you so you'll stop doing that. Otherwise, mission or no, you'll end up getting on everyone's nerves and you'll end up alone – and before you say 'what do you think I'm aiming for?' or something like that, think why you've hanged around with us for so long," I added hastily as I saw he was about to interrupt me. Yet when I said these last words, he quieted and took a moment to answer.

"Very well. It is evident you will not leave unless I indulge you by participating in this debate. I will humor you for now." He looked at me as he spoke. "You boast you remember everything about our last adventure. Well, then... do you remember what I said to Wilheim before he took his life?"

"Sort of," I said. "Something about you not wanting to make friends because you always have to watch them die..."

"I trust then, that you now understand that continuing with this conversation is rather pointless."

"I don't think so..." I retorted, gaining another uncomforting glare from him. "I think that, rather than trying to push us away, you'd be best coping with us."

"Did I not explain myself clearly?"

"Yeah, but... Octavius, you died so that Wilheim and Siegfried would save Ukyo, or at least that's what I've heard. I repeat: you _do_ care about us... No matter how hard you try to push us away, you don't want to see us harmed." I let out a sigh before going on. "You're right and you probably will see us die before you kick the bucket... But that's the way it is right now. No use beating yourself about it if you can't change it. The real thing to worry about is how early you plan on losing us... And if you don't stop 'being distant' it might be sooner than you would hope... Not to mention that we need you. We need your strength."

We both remained silent for a long while. Octavius actually seemed thoughtful. It was almost as if he had taken me seriously...

"You should really talk to Felicia, you know..." I dared to add.

"I shall think about it," he quietly replied. "Leave me be. I must think of all that you have said. And, although I do not feel gratitude towards you, I know you meant to help. Thank you."

"...All right... You're welcome, I guess," I mumbled and allowed him to be by himself. The conversation went a lot better than I actually thought.

I went into Santa's house and allowed myself to a couple of cookies and a glass of milk. And then – not exactly sure why – I simply started feeling better. An unusual warmth spread inside of me, starting from my stomach. When it reached my chest, I no longer felt nervous or afraid. I simply had the sensation that everything was going to be fine. I was no longer concerned about running into I-No again. I knew that we would triumph next time. I knew that I would not let anything bad happen to Sakura or to either of my friends.

But although the cookie did take away the nervousness and anguish I felt, it didn't remove my pessimism. So I stupidly put the cookie down, wondering what the hell kind of drug Santa had put in it, refusing to feel better just like that.

At that moment, Irina came into the house, giggling happily, hair and face covered with snow. She made her way to the cookie tray, ate one, and stuffed about six of them in her pocket. It took her a while to notice me, actually.

"Oh, hi, Ryoga," she greeted, cheerfully.

"Hey..." I said. "Irina, do you know if there's anything in these cookies?"

"Um, I'm not sure I understand what you mean..." she muttered.

"I mean, a few minutes ago, I was feeling pretty low, and then, I ate one of these cookies, and now I don't feel as bad anymore."

"Oh, that's great!"

"Somehow, I don't see it that way..."

Her smile vanished and she looked at me with an expression of utter confusion.

"...Why?"

"Well, don't you think that it could be dangerous? Maybe there are some unknown substances in it, or something of the sort... I mean, no one can become so cheerful just after eating a cookie so fast," I said.

She remained quiet for a few moments and then let out a loud laugh, yet quickly covered her mouth, doing her best to stop her giggles.

"Are you saying that Santa drugged us?" she asked.

"Well..." I mumbled, realizing how stupid that actually sounded. "Well, I..." I let out a long sigh and shook my head. "Never mind..."

"It almost looks as if you wanted to be depressed again," Irina observed. "Come on, Ryoga! If you're cheering up, don't ruin the moment. Finish your cookie and come hang out with us."

"...Yeah, I guess that sounds good," I said, feeling rather stupid. I guess I momentarily got scared that by letting my guard down something bad would actually happen. Though Santa's cookie had helped me with my depression, I was still stubborn and didn't want to be so happy, because that could mean carelessness from my part. But Irina's words were the final nudge I needed to let it all go and start to feel really good again. "Okay. I suppose I'll do the same as you and take some cookies with me."

"Oh, these are for some of our friends, who asked me to fetch them some cookies on my way here," she giggled. "But help yourself."

"All right... Say, Irina... You're coming with us, right?"

"Yeah, I'm planning on that... So far everyone's been okay with that... It's just that I'd like to get back home..."

"Oh, I don't have a problem with that. You're more than welcome, as long as it concerns me."

"Thanks, Ryoga," she said, flashing a pretty, friendly smile.

"Need some help, Irina?" suddenly asked Akane as she made her way into the house. "Oh, Ryoga, there you are... Are you feeling any better now?"

"Yeah, thanks Akane. We were just on our way to meet you," I answered, blushing. Yeah... Though I'm no longer in love with Akane, she still makes me blush from time to time. She's still one of the prettiest girls I've ever seen in my life.

"No hiding, Tendo! Get back here!" yelled Sakura as she too entered Santa's home while holding a snowball. "There is no mercy for cowards!"

"I just came to help Irina, Sakura... I need a break and some cookies... Besides, Ryoga's coming, too."

She looked at me and I smiled, letting her know with that gesture that I was all right. She returned the grin, but hers was mischievous and she started to bounce the snowball on her hand in the air. Realizing her intentions, Irina and Akane laughed and stepped aside.

"No way! We're inside the house! Don't you dare!" I exclaimed, yet Sakura chose to do whatever the heck she wanted and hit me square on the face with the snowball. The sudden cold made me shiver, but I didn't go after her right away.

"I said 'no mercy for cowards'!" she challenged.

"All right... Have it your way..." I muttered and then ran after her as she fled from the house laughing aloud. To see her so happy and so tranquil put my heart at true ease. All I wanted was to see her smile.

_(Change of scene)_

After a lot of searching, we finally discovered the item that revealed the Keyhole. It turned out to be the thing Sally had secretly been working on by Jack's request: a Santa Claus suit. Although our friend was no longer thinking about stealing Christmas from Santa or anything of the sort, Sally had figured that it would be best to finish the job she had started and gave him the suit as a present. I guess the former desire Jack had poured into it turned it into the key to our objective.

Our mission accomplished, we decided we had had enough rest. Before boarding our ships, we bid farewell to our friends. However, Santa insisted we stayed one more hour, since he had some stuff to say to Sora and had presents for us. Said presents turned out to be improvements for our ships, which were very, very welcome. For a moment, I was thinking that he was actually going to give us a jack-in-the-box or something of the sort... But Santa always seemed to know what he was doing.

As Sora approached him to receive his own personal present – a keychain which would grant his sword new powers – Santa placed a hand on his shoulder and said:

"Well, Sora, tell me... Why did you say that you didn't believe in me?"

"It... I didn't really..." he stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse, apparently. In the end, however, he chose to speak with honesty... he realized it would be for the best. "I started to believe you were a fake when Riku told me this."

"Riku, eh?"

"Yeah... my best friend. He told me you didn't exist."

"I see... Well, as children grow older, they stop believing in magic. It's only natural." He paused for a moment. "And what about Riku? Where is he now, anyway?"

"I'd sure like to know that," Sora sighed. "I've been looking for him for the longest time... I don't know if I'll ever find him. Each time I feel I'm getting close, something bad happens and I lose track of him."

"Hmm... That's unfortunate. But, you see, Sora, I believe you will find him," Santa said, smiling.

"How do you know for sure?"

"Like I said, I believe. It's just a matter of believing, Sora. If you believe in Riku, you will find him... just like you found me."

"Oh, what a load of—" Baiken started to murmur, yet Ukyo glared at her anxiously. The woman rolled her eye and gave a nod with her head, agreeing not to say a word. It was fortunate that Santa didn't hear her at all.

"I hadn't seen it that way," Sora said, smirking. "Thank a lot, Santa... for everything."

"No need to thank me, my boy," Santa Claus replied. "Somehow, I believe this won't be the last time we meet. I'll be waiting for your return."

"And so will we," Jack added, referring to Sally and himself. "We'll have an incredible Halloween next time; yet it's always nice to share a bit of the Christmas spirit with others, too. I hope everything turns out all right Sora, and if you do come back, we'll be ready to back you up."

"Thanks, Jack. For my part, I hope you guys have a merry Christmas," Sora said, waving at them. We mimicked him and then boarded the Gummi ship, which was already waiting for us...

We left Christmas Town and headed into the darkness of space, debating as to what our next destination should be. The decision was taken after only a few minutes, however, because a familiar voice was suddenly heard through the ships' speakers.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me?"

"That's Merlin!" Sora exclaimed.

"We hear you, Merlin," Leon answered. "What's the matter? Is everything all right?"

"Yes, everything is fine, thankfully," the wizard answered. "However, I'd like you to come back to Hollow Bastion as soon as you can. I have a very interesting item here which might interest you. You might also help me to find out what it might exactly be..."

"What sort of item are you talking about?" our friend questioned.

"A very strange book..."


	19. Chapter 18: A Most Unusual Tale

Hey, all.

Wow, this time I updated fairly fast, didn't I? Anyway, I hope I'll have more time to continue writing, because I've had the urge to write the following chapters since I practically began to think about the story...

Before we start, it's disclaiming time... Well... It should be. See, I've decided to keep the chapter a surprise, so I'll do the disclaiming at the very end.

I hope you guys enjoy. This is the beginning of a long sub-story, so I truly wish you'll find it as entertaining as I do.

See ya!

_Chapter Eighteen: __A Most Unusual Tale_

_Narrator: Ukyo_

Those two days worth of rest weren't enough for me. I was still feeling exhausted. Mostly because I kept thinking that the end of our journey wasn't at all near. Our last adventure had gone on for a good six months, at the very least (I sort of lost track of time during that mess) and this one didn't look like it was going to be any shorter... Not to mention that we were risking our necks with every battle we fought.

Long story short, I needed a longer break so I could feel motivated again. And, on a more intimate note, it had been a while since Wilheim and I had last made love. All the training and all the battles in the world can't take that feeling away. As Baiken so delicately pointed out again as she saw me during our journey to Hollow Bastion, while I was staring mindlessly at the emptiness of space, I needed to get laid... At least my friends were more than ready for more Heartless-mayhem after our little vacation at Christmas Town. It seemed that Santa had given them some motivation... especially Sora, of course.

Either way, I was half-hoping that our return to Hollow Bastion wouldn't mean more battles. It wasn't like I was doing nothing during our travels through space... Both Baiken and Jam trained me until every last one of my muscles literally stung. At least I was getting stronger and deadlier by the day... But, God, what I wouldn't have given for a hammock and _any_ sort of fattening food.

Regardless of what I felt at that moment, we would soon embark on a new adventure... An adventure that would prove to be one of our most dangerous and challenging missions... Yet it would also become one of our most beloved moments...

_(Change of scene)_

We got to Hollow Bastion about three days after leaving Christmas Town and headed straight to what was now Merlin's house. The world was nothing like I remembered it – for the better. Merlin's home was somewhat small, so most of us only remained inside for a few moments, while he explained why he had contacted us. And, although I barely had room to move, was hot, and tired, I was very happy to see Archimedes again. Unfortunately, we didn't get to talk much (yet I believe we wouldn't have much to say to each other, since he seemed to know everything about our travels through Merlin, who had apparently been watching us with magic)...

Merlin explained that he had found a new book in the depths of Hollow Bastion, that is, alleys which were still frequented by Heartless during the nights, and where no restoration had been done. According to him, it was as if the book had called out to him...

"It's riddled with strange markings even I can't understand," Merlin confessed. "It's written in various different languages; that much I've figured out... There are a few paragraphs in Old English, Castilian, Barbaric tongues, Latin, and Greek here and there... Aside from this, I'm completely baffled. I was hoping that some of you would be able to shed some light on this subject..."

"I'm not sure how we'll be able to help... Neither of us speaks Heartless, assuming they wrote the book," Goofy mumbled.

"It's probably some sort of trap built by the Organization," Donald guessed.

"Merlin has tested it with all sort of magic: this book isn't cursed," Archimedes grumbled.

"At least I have not found out any curses, yet the book intrigues me still," Merlin said. "There are some of you that speak languages I barely understand... Maybe you'll be able to unveil some of the mysteries the book holds."

"Allow me to have a look," Demean said. Merlin gave him the tome immediately. It was almost as fat as a phonebook. Its cover was made of black leather and had no drawings or inscriptions on it. The pages themselves all had weird scriptures written all over them, and some of them had eerie illustrations, such as pentacles, and a series of rings... The elf and the fairy looked at the first pages without a clue of what they said. However, after scanning some later pages, their eyes were filled by surprise as Demean exclaimed: "This is Elvish!"

"So you understand?" Merlin asked with excitement.

"Yes; there are a few paragraphs written in Elvish," Tish replied. "Yet that is all..."

"A few paragraphs will prove useful, I hope," our friend declared. He studied them for some minutes before finally shaking his head, defeated, and admitting: "This reveals nothing... It appears to be the beginning of a story, yet the details are quite scant and hardly make any sense."

"Precisely what I have seen so far," the wizard sighed, scratching his head. "What's worse, I've found some fragments written in different languages that I do understand, but even then, it doesn't make any sense."

"Perhaps it is coded," Demean guessed. "Hmm... Wait a moment... I believe there is _Vampyr _language here as well... Could you corroborate this, Adrian?"

"Ah, I'm called again!" the vampire said, taking a step forth. "Ah, yes! It's all so simple! It now makes sense!!" he exclaimed as he held the book and looked at it with apparent understanding. "It's a map to the Holy Grail! The city's name... Alexandretta!! We will face three challenges: the Breath of God; only the penitent man will pass..."

"Don't forget that Jehovah is spelled with an 'I' in Latin," Felicia kidded. I was surprised: it had been a long time since she had last joked with Adrian. Visiting Santa must've gotten her in a good mood... Either that or Octavius finally had the nerve to talk to her, or something. Irina also seemed in a good mood, since she was the only one who was giggling sweetly, while the rest of us were gulping nervously.

"Aw, hell," Baiken scowled... yeah, she was still intolerant of our crazy friend's jokes. "It's like I'm stuck in moron-land..."

"I appeal to your seriousness for one moment, please," Tish groaned. "Can you make out anything, yes or no?"

"Okay, okay, no need to hit Adrian..." he chuckled. He started to read and nodded his head. "Well, it is _Vampyr_ language, all right... Though this guy's handwriting... It's as if he wrote it with his feet..."

"Yes, we realized... Does it make any sense?" Tish pressed.

"It's just an isolated paragraph, so there's not much to it... This one looks like the beginning of a stereo's instruction booklet, actually."

"Lovely..."

"I can also make out a bit of _Narsua_ tongue," Demean muttered.

"It does not matter if I have a look or not. The result will be the same," Octavius predicted.

"You are probably right..."

"This may appear to be an unsolvable mystery at fist glance, but I am sure that, now that there are more of us here, we can find the answer together," Merlin assured.

"We have more important things to attend to than to solving riddles," Octavius said dryly.

"I disagree," Tish replied. "Merlin found this book in a place where the Heartless still abound. And, stating the obvious, anyone who wrote this book is obviously hiding something. No one writes a book in so many languages on paragraphs that seem meaningless. This might actually be of some use to us."

Octavius took a deep breath and crossed his arms. He then nodded and said: "Very well. Perhaps you are right. But we cannot spend much time in trying to find an answer to what this book is."

"That is true..."

"Let us give it a week," Demean suggested. "Most of you are still too young to be able to help, I am afraid... Tish, Octavius, Camille, Adrian, and I will look on this matter with Merlin."

"I can help too," Irina offered. "I know about some spells in other languages... Maybe I could be of some use."

"You are most welcome to stay with us, then."

"Why me?" Adrian whined.

"You know _Vampyr _language better than we do, of course. That means you get to spend hours of fun analyzing the book's test in complete silence. Besides, the sun is rising. There is nowhere to run."

"Ah, fiddlesticks!" the vampire sighed and this time, Baiken smiled.

_(Change of scene)_

I was a bit disappointed in me... but I couldn't help it. I truly wished that our friends would take the entire week to solve this mystery. The rest we would get from that would be most welcome – even at the expense of our buddies. But surely they'd do something other than just concentrate on breaking up the mystery... and if not, tough break; at least I would get my rest.

Since we had arrived in the middle of the night, we slept throughout most of the day. Once we woke up, Demean, Tish, and the others got to work on the book, while the rest of us stepped out of Merlin's house... We really needed to stretch our limbs.

We got to explore a bit of Hollow Bastion. It was absolutely nothing like I remembered it. The people had successfully turned that pit of Heartless and malice into a cozy little town. Though seeing it all (the restored part, at lest) didn't take us longer than fifteen minutes, it was nice to be in a place that felt somehow familiar.

We didn't do much during what was left of the day. It was not like there was a lot to do either way. At least we weren't fighting... Jam said she was feeling tired too and decided to release me from my training with her during our stay. Baiken however, was not feeling as merciful and just gave us that very same day, promising that she would turn us to dust the following day. My Wilheim didn't seem too pleased by her resolve, either...

The people of Hollow Bastion knew we were battling against the Heartless and decided to give us whatever we needed... in other words, they fed us. After a hearty meal, Wilheim and I decided to go to the rooftop of one of the nearby buildings, while watching how a red sun sank into the blue horizon formed by the walls that enclosed the former Heartless fortress. Seeing that lovely sunset by my darling's side brought peace to my heart. I sighed tranquilly and let my head rest on his shoulder.

"I don't want to train..." I lazily murmured. "Let's tell Baiken we're sick."

"Even if we were, I doubt she would spare us of our fate," he answered, curling my hair with his fingers.

"But I don't wanna..." I whined, hugging him by the neck. "I don't want to train... I just want to sleep, eat, and make love..."

"Oh..." Wilheim chuckled nervously, making me giggle. I don't understand how I'm still able to have that effect on him, but it's nice to know that I do. "I see..."

"What? Don't you want me to make love to you?" I cooed, kissing his cheek lovingly.

"Every hour of every day," he whispered with a snort before bursting out in laughter.

"Oh, come on!" I chuckled, playfully slapping his chest. "I was being serious!"

"I'm serious about it too! But I am so very tired that getting nervous actually tickles me..."

"...That's just stupid, Wilheim!" I exclaimed. "That's not tickling! This is tickling!" I started to tickle him on the neck and below his ribs.

"Ukyo, stop!" he pleaded, but he was as helpless as a newborn puppy. Wilheim can't handle tickling at all. In a matter of seconds, I had him pinned on the ground, holding him down with my own weight. "In the name of humanity, stop! I can't breathe!!" he wailed, unable to control his laughter.

I fulfilled his wish and crossed my arms on top of his chest while he regained his breath. I stared at him lovingly and said:

"You're so easy."

"You're so mean," he kidded and gently caressed my cheek. "Why do you torment me like that?"

"Because you love it," I replied.

"Ah... Yes, I had forgotten."

With a giggle, I kissed his lips and lay still on top of him as he hugged me. We remained there without moving much more, sharing that beautiful quiet moment as the sun slowly disappeared.

It began to grow dark and the lights of Hollow Bastion went on. Right about that time, Sora, Jam, and Siegfried climbed to the roof, bringing popsicles with them.

"Hey, guys; we thought you'd like—oh..." Sora mumbled, somewhat embarrassed.

"Seems like we're interrupting... and now I feel like a voyeur," Jam said with a laugh.

"No, it's okay, really," I said and yawned. "We're just lying here... Doing nothing."

"Really? 'Cause it looks as if though you're busy," Siegfried retorted.

"Truly, you can stay here with us," Wilheim said.

"I mean, we can always come back later..."

"Damn it, give me my popsicle and sit the heck down!" I whined.

They all laughed and gave me and my baby our sweets.

"Aren't you at least going to get off him, Ukyo?" Jam asked, as I bit down on my ice cream without even sitting up straight on top of Wilheim.

"What for? He's big and fluffy and he's not complaining," I argued.

"And even if I did complain, it would be useless," my baby said.

"Stop playing the victim, Wilheim. You're enjoying it," Siegfried laughed.

"Shut up; no one asked for your opinion," Wilheim laughed.

"It tastes funny," I said. "A little salty... It's yummy, but the flavor is very unusual, for an ice cream."

"That's why it's called Salty Ice Cream," Sora replied.

"Oh, no wonder."

"Still, it's good," Jam said. "It's a good dessert after a light meal. Only that you didn't eat a light meal, Will."

"He never does," I said and we all chuckled.

"I miss Riku and Kairi..." Sora declared with a sigh. "I wonder when we'll see them again."

"Cheer up, sweetie. We'll find them," Jam assured, making the kid blush, as usual.

"I know that... I'm just thinking about when that will be."

"Just be patient, sugar," I said. "It might take some time, but, like you said, we'll meet them. All you have to do is to have patience. Otherwise, you'll just end up the way I did last time when it took us such a long while to find Wilheim."

"We are well aware of the anguish your heart may feel when you long for your beloved one," my baby added.

"Your beloved one?" Jam asked, raising an eyebrow. "You mean to tell me you have a girlfriend, Sora?"

"Um, I..." Sora chuckled somewhat idiotically. In the end, he nodded and said: "I sort of do..."

"And all this time you've been flirting with me? Boy, you really are a Casanova, aren't you?"

Sora turned bright red and looked away while smiling. Jam really loved to make him blush. And this time, Siegfried didn't behave like a complete jerk.

"Yeah, that's Sora... always hitting on all the pretty ladies. All the girls are after him."

"Knock it off, Siegfried," Sora chuckled.

"Him? What about you, my dear brother?" Wilheim intervened.

"What about me?"

"I distinctly recall you flirting on four lovely young women back at that pub in Bonn, in the sixties."

"Four girls?" Jam laughed, turning to Siegfried. "That's a bit excessive, isn't it?"

"It was a fair share," Siegfried joked. "Two for me, two for Wilheim; but the dope was too shy to actually get into the game."

"Oh, you are unbelievable."

"Thank you," my brother-in-law said and they both laughed.

"Would you trade me for those two women, Wilheim?" I asked lazily.

"I suggest you sleep a bit... Now you're starting to ask stupid questions," he replied. With a giggle, I held him and closed my eyes, letting their tranquil, pointless chatter rock me. Wilheim's voice resonated in his chest, reaching my ears like music, gently carrying me to dreamland.

However, it took me a while before I finally got to sleep. I first heard how Adrian, who was apparently taking a break from the book, reached the rooftop and sat beside us. I expected him to start teasing Sora about Jam, but he merely sighed and remained surprisingly quiet.

"How's it going with the book?" Siegfried asked.

"Not good," the vampire replied in a tired voice. "We haven't figured squat out. Four hours of staring at it trying to come to a conclusion and we're still baffled."

"You look very tired," Sora pointed out. "Did Camille give you any blood, or something?"

"Yep. Regarding that matter, I'm good," he answered. "But it's just that I'm not used to this sort of mental torture..."

"Please," Jam said. "On other occasions, we've been through hell and afterwards you've still got enough energy to piss Baiken off."

"It's different this time..."

"He is a Ventrue vampire," Wilheim observed. "Battles are his passion. That is why he tires less when fighting... and more when actually trying to use his brain."

"Oh, yeah? Well, you... Ah, I'm too tired. I'm not doing this," Adrian mumbled and lay down, making us laugh. He heard me giggle and asked: "I thought you were asleep, Ukyo?"

"I'm on it," I answered.

"No, you're _on_ Wilheim, which is different."

"Your jokes aren't even funny; get some rest."

"Ouch... You're so mean," he whined.

Right then, I heard how Baiken and Felicia climbed to the rooftop.

"Oh, the sky is so pretty tonight... Oh, hi, guys," Felicia greeted.

"I'm here to try to enjoy the sight a bit, so you better not mess with me, vampire," Baiken threatened. I got nervous for a bit, but Adrian immediately replied:

"I'll humor you just this once. I just came here to rest..."

"That better be it." She sat beside us while Felicia did so next to Adrian and Sora.

"Still no luck with that book?" the cat-woman asked.

"No. Please don't mention it right now. I don't want to think about it... Want to clear my mind," Adrian said.

"Hmm... Looks like you found your match, huh?"

"Yes: a stupid book containing some sort of whatever," he sighed. "Oh, and you're helping us tomorrow."

"Excuse me?" my darling said and I then knew Adrian had spoken to him (I had my eyes closed about that time). "I am sure even you speak more languages than I do... I would be useless."

"You've become a nerdy computer hack!" the vampire argued. "You have to know something about Encrypting. Same principle."

"Hmm... I suppose you are right..."

"No way," I mumbled, half-asleep. "If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me."

"I barely understood a word of that," Wilheim kidded, making them all laugh.

"I'm not training all alone with Baiken! I need someone to absorb part of the punishment!"

"Usually that would've made me mad, but it's impossible to take you seriously when it appears as if you're talking with a hot potato on your mouth," Baiken said. Jeez, even she was mocking me. Everyone was laughing at me now... But I was too sleepy to make a come back.

"Ah, to hell with you all."

"Don't be like that," Wilheim said sweetly and kissed my head.

"All right, all right... I'll let you rest tomorrow," Baiken yielded. "But afterwards, we train. Got it?"

"Bless you..." I said, almost with a snore.

"How sweet of you, Baiken," Jam snickered. "You truly can be a doll."

"You shut up. And besides, how I'm I supposed to train with a sack of bricks?" Baiken replied, making everyone laugh again.

"Wilheim, they're calling me names..." I whimpered. "Pound them..."

"I'm at a disadvantage here... You are not exactly giving me much room to move around," he said.

"Screw you, then."

"Just go to sleep. I promise they won't bother you anymore."

"Good..."

They laughed some more, but in the end, they let me be. They continued to talk nonsense while staring at the lovely sky while I peacefully drifted into a quiet sleep, only to wake up after what had seemed to be seconds later to find my body covered in sheets, my arms around my Wilheim, my head resting on his shoulder as he slept serenely. I slightly raised my head to look around and saw all of my friends crammed up in that little room, not one of them had an eye open. Merlin and Archimedes were nowhere to be found, but it seemed they had only gone to take a walk or something. I yawned and cuddled up against Wilheim and went back to sleep.

_(Change of scene)_

I woke up again in the middle of the night. I could tell it was still dark without even opening my eyes. A chilly draft had roused me. I shivered and reached for the covers as I held even more fiercely to my beloved in order to go back to sleep. Apparently, though, the covers had slipped from the bed. With a grunt, I sat down and reached for them. It was not until then, when I had felt everything around me, that I realized there was no bed anymore. Confused, I opened my eyes... and when I saw what was before me, I gasped in alarm and became wide awake.

We were in an alley. A dark, narrow alley... and by the look of the buildings that surrounded us, it was evident we were no longer in Hollow Bastion. There was a sewer right before us; a garbage container to our left, and fire escape stairs right above us.

I would've cried, but the shout got stuck in my throat. I quickly looked around and noticed – to my partial relief – that _all _of us were there, except for Merlin and Archimedes. I realized that Ryu was sleeping on top of the fire escape stairs, while Ranma and Akane were right by an empty carton box. Donald and Goofy slept beside a metal fence, and Baiken lay next to the sewer. Wilheim was still beside me, thankfully. But, regardless of this, something had gone terribly wrong.

"Wilheim, wake up," I murmured, shaking my baby. "Wake up..."

"What...?" he mumbled lazily, with a yawn. "What is wrong, Ukyo?"

"Open your eyes, please..."

"What? What's going on?" he asked, alarmed by the tone of my voice and sat down. He looked around and turned pale. "Dear God..." he mouthed without making a sound.

"We've got to rouse the others," I said.

"...Yes... Let us do that."

One by one, we woke up our companions as quietly as we could. They were going to be shocked either way, so we didn't want to be too rough, not to mention that we wanted to remain as silent as possible. Who knew what could be out there, with us...

Once everyone was awake and accounted for, we looked in all directions, trying to find out if there were any Heartless or Nobodies in the vicinity.

"What the fuck happened?" Baiken whispered. "Where are we?"

"I wish I had an answer," Octavius answered in a low voice.

"Let's get out of here," Ryu suggested. "We don't know what's going on and this alley is a perfect dead-end."

"I agree. Let's get going," Siegfried said.

"Wait a minute, guys," Sora interrupted. He pointed at the alley's corner with the Keyblade. There it was... the book, lying quietly on the ground, yet shimmering with an eerie light, almost as if it were blatantly admitting its guilt to this whole mess. "It must've been it!"

"I thought Merlin had tested it for all sorts of curses!" Donald grumbled.

"Surely there is magic within this book that none of us understand," Demean said. "He is not the one to blame."

"I wonder if there is a way to have it take us back to Hollow Bastion..." Sora said as he cautiously approached the book. But as he took the first step forward, the tome stopped shining. "Wait!" Sora yelled and raced to it. He picked it up and looked at it carefully. "Aw, dang... I don't think it'll work anymore..."

"Whatever it did, we are going to have to find out later," Tish said. "Right now, the important thing is to assess what sort of perils we might run into."

"Let's hurry out of here, then," Ranma said.

We stepped out of the alley into a wide, empty street, illuminated by light posts and lit buildings. We looked around, our guards raised, ready to take on anything that might come our way; the lack of any clue as to what was going on had us on our toes, although the disorientation was not helping.

"Oh... I'll be damned," Ken suddenly murmured.

"What?" we all asked, turning around to where he looked, raising our weapons.

"Look! Recognize that building, anyone?" he said, as he pointed to a far-away structure that rose high into the sky. It was so distant that we could "squeeze it" with our fingers; yet we still were aware of its monstrous size. It shone like a star in the night as its pointy end pierced the single cloud that flew above it.

"Are we supposed to recognize it?" Siegfried questioned. "I don't think we've ever been in this world be—"

"Oh, my God!" Felicia interrupted. "It's the Empire State Building!"

"The Empire State Building," Ken repeated, with a smile. "Guys, we're in New York!"

"What??" we all blurted. "How the blazes did this happen?" Camille asked.

"Well, it's obvious the book had something to do with it," Ken said.

"Wow, wait a minute," Donald interrupted. "You mean to tell me that this is part of your world too?"

"Our world is enormous," Ryu answered. "Last time, we visited London; that's only a city in our world, as is New York."

"Although it is our world's largest city," Ken said.

"I have never been to New York yet heard plenty of stories about it... Well, mostly from you, Demean," Merryck mumbled. "I feel a little nervous, and we are not in the city yet."

"Before thinking about going to the city, let us first figure this out, Merryck," the elf replied.

"In that case, I suppose you wouldn't know anyone who could help us figure out this mess?" Leon asked.

"Actually, ordinary humans don't know much about magic and these sorts of things," Catherine said. "They even think that elves, fairies and..." She thought about her words carefully as she looked at Donald and Goofy, "Creatures like you don't even exist."

"...That's so strange..." Goofy mumbled, scratching his head.

"In any case, guys, what's the story with the book?" Irina asked. "We... we have to get it working again so we can return to Hollow Bastion... Because I believe the Gummi ships stayed there..."

"...Oh, crud," Sora grumbled, speaking for all of us. "I should never have taken it out of my pocket... This is my fault..."

"That's stupid, Sora, this isn't your fault," Felicia said. "Let's all just calm down a bit... This might actually not be so bad."

"In what way?" Akane asked.

"Wait, kid... Hello Kitty might be right," Baiken said. "If the book is a... 'teleporter' of some sort, all we have to do is to figure out how to make it work. And in the mean time," she quickly added, before anyone could interrupt her, "We can take out the Heartless here. If they have invaded all the worlds, they're here too, for sure."

"Why aren't you freaking out like when we went to Santa's house?" Jam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because..." Baiken declared, slightly lowering her head. "You bunch of idiots wanted to see Santa Claus back in Christmas Town and you got your wish... Well, now it's my turn: I've never been to New York... More specifically, I want to see Manhattan." Even though we were in a terribly mysterious, possibly dangerous situation, I couldn't help but to smile as I heard her say these words.

"I have to say I agree with Baiken in this matter," Merryck announced.

"I don't care if the rest of you agree or not: I'm going," the woman said.

"This is not a sight-seeing trip," Octavius said, but before he could go on, Felicia intervened.

"Oh, give it a rest, Octavius," she said, yet there wasn't a trace of anger in her voice this time. "We got our wish last time; I say we indulge Baiken this time. And besides, we got rid of the Heartless in Christmas Town. We'll do the same here."

The were-bear sighed impatiently, but in the end, he nodded.

"And we have to find a hotel or something before morning," Baiken went on. "Otherwise, Adrian will burn to a crisp."

"...You said my name!" Adrian exclaimed, faking happy tears.

"Goddamn it... Shut the fuck up!" the woman grumbled.

"I can't believe she said my name..." he repeated while the rest of us contained our laughter. Irina seemed to be having the most trouble doing so; she was even blushing. Adrian then whispered to her aloud: "She loves me."

"There's just one problem with this plan..." Akane intervened and quite opportunely, too. "New York is one of the most expensive cities in the world. I don't have enough money to stay at a hotel..."

"Fuck..." Baiken sighed. "I had forgotten about that."

"We will have to look for a dark alley where the sun does not reach," Tish said.

"No, no, wait a second," Ken said, while grinning. "You're all forgetting that your Uncle Ken is here!"

"...So?" Donald quacked.

"Right! Ken is filthy rich!" Sakura laughed as Ken bowed.

"I do not like to be a burden," Demean murmured.

"Didn't you hear her? Filthy rich!" Ken exclaimed. "My family owns a chain of hotels... Five-star hotels, what's more, and they're all around the world. There's two of them here, in New York; one in Manhattan. Trust me, Demean: money is an issue we don't have to worry about."

"So basically you're comparing yourself to Paris Hilton?" Jam asked, making us burst out in laughter.

"Hey, easy on the insults," Ken replied. "I have earned my place in the corporation, you know."

"If you say so..."

"Seriously!!"

"Okay, okay! I believe you," Jam laughed. The decision to visit Manhattan, coupled with that joke, made me feel a bit sassy, and so I remarked:

"I bet Paris Hilton dies her hair too..."

"Hey!!" Ken shouted, while Jam and I looked at each other and tried, in vain, to contain our chuckles.

"Leave the man alone, Ukyo... He is going to provide us shelter," Wilheim said.

"You're no fun..."

"We also have to buy some clothes to hide Donald and Goofy's appearance," Ryu stated. "And a cap for you, to hide your ears," he added, glancing at Demean and Irina. "A jacket, for your wings... Some shoes for Merryck... and Tish will have to remain hidden in your clothes, I think..."

"I am used to this," Tish sighed. "It is not the first time we have visited a human city."

"Shoes?" Merryck whined, making a face. "Why shoes? It is not like my feet are much different from yours."

"It's not usual to see people barefoot," Ken said. "Especially in New York, where you can step on a broken glass bottle, you know."

"And we also have to get you some clothes, too, Felicia."

"Oh, man! I'm going to melt with something else on! It'll be like wearing ten fur coats..." the cat-woman complained.

"I hope they don't get scared with us..." Goofy mumbled.

"If they do, tough break," Donald said, angrily. "We're here to help, after all."

"No need to get mad, Donald... Come on. Let's buy you some clothes. Uncle Ken pays the bills," Ken said. "Although we should hurry... Not sure what time it is..."

"It's way early," Adrian replied. "The sun has just gone down."

"Are you sure?" Ryoga questioned.

"He knows," both Siegfried and Wilheim replied.

"...Okay. In that case, let's get moving."

And with that, it was decided. We headed toward Manhattan, doing our best to cover Donald, Goofy, Felicia, and Irina as we walked through the streets. Seeing them empty would've been a very bad sign; but we saw some folks here and there, thankfully. They got a bit scared when they saw the whole lot of us and quickly turned away and hurried to wherever it is they were heading. Yet we didn't see any Heartless, which was a welcome relief.

_(Change of scene)_

After a very, very long walk, we finally reached Manhattan. And, to our surprise and joy, it was riddled with people. No empty streets whatsoever... It was just like what you see in the movies: traffic, lights all around, and immense buildings everywhere. It was an overwhelming sensation, yet a tranquil one, at that... Let me put it this way: I felt like a tourist rather than a warrior searching for evil beings.

Getting clothes for Adrian, Goofy, Felicia, and Irina was quite difficult. First of all, we had to keep very close to one another to keep anyone from seeing them. Since we were such a big group, this part was only a bit uncomfortable, but not the least bit hard. The tricky part was entering a store and buying them concealing clothes that actually fit them. We practically had to form a wall so no one else would get to the dressing rooms, warning our friends to hide their... unusual features as best as they could while inside the little rooms, so that the security cameras wouldn't discover them. Luckily, they were quick and discrete and we got out of the store fairly quickly.

Merryck wasn't that much of a challenge. We just fetched him some sneakers and had him fully disguised in no time, even though he was more than unhappy about wearing shoes.

Our next stop was the hotel. Like Ken had said, it was a five-star stance. We were treated like princes and princesses, since... Uncle Ken was known and had a big bank account. He not only got us the best rooms in the hotel; he was kind enough to understand our particular situation and got us separate rooms. Naturally, Wilheim and I got one of our own...

It was late and we were tired. We decided that it would be best to rest during the day and to do some exploring at sundown. We bid each other good night and went to our rooms... Before sleeping though, I, of course, let loose all my sexual tension on Wilheim. I probably might've overdone it a little, but who knew when we'd get another opportunity...

We slept until two o'clock. I opened my eyes and looked at the room's clock lazily. Then I saw Wilheim and I smiled, thinking that we might as well as be on our honey moon. I kissed his nose to wake him up. He stretched and then hugged me, refusing to get out of bed.

"Baby, we have to go meet the others," I said.

"It is still early," he argued.

"No, it's not!"

"Allow me to rephrase: it is still early to meet our friends. We agreed we would meet in the lobby at five thirty. I need more sleep."

"We've slept more than enough, Wilheim... Come on, I want to eat breakfast; I'm hungry."

"It's your fault I am this tired."

"Was that a statement or a complaint?" I asked, with a giggle.

Wilheim remained quiet for a second and then chuckled.

"A statement," he admitted.

"Good save... I won't have to hit you, then," I teased. "Come on, let's get dressed." I jumped out of bed, full of energy, and fetched my clothes. As Wilheim sat up on bed, he let out a groan. "What's wrong?"

"It hurts a little..." he moaned, rubbing his hip.

"Once again: is that a statement or a complaint?"

"...I suppose it is a compliment, more than anything," he said shyly and finally put his feet on the ground. "If I start walking funny, our friends will know—"

"Please, Wilheim! They knew from the moment you and I entered the room. And for the record: I'm not ashamed."

"Very good..." he said, as he struggled to put on his pants. I think that I did go too far... "I just wanted to make sure."

We argued no more about that matter and went down to eat something. We had buffet service, thankfully... Once again, Uncle Ken was to thank for that. Afterwards, I suggested a little sight-seeing. It was only three o'clock by the time we were done, so that meant we still had two and a half hours before meeting with our friends. We went out of the hotel and took a walk.

Though Ken was the one with the major dough, that didn't mean I couldn't do some shopping with our own money. I got to make a withdrawal from our account in one of the more important banks. While we obviously weren't as wealthy as Mr. Masters, Wilheim and I had a lot of money saved up, thanks to our vampire friends. I only had about two hours left... I figured it was time to do some shopping. My baby said that he didn't think it was the best time to do something of the sort, but I was stubborn and he came with me anyway.

By the end of our little journey, I had bought two sweaters, a nice dress, and some earrings. Wilheim refused to let me buy him anything... I got him a Yankees cap anyway. We got back to the hotel ten minutes before our deadline and dropped the stuff on our room. We then went to the lobby and reunited with our friends, who were eager to get out of there (although I'm sure that more than one explored the streets like we did).

"What should we do now?" Sora asked.

"You're the Keyblade master: you should know," Donald grumbled. He had all sorts of concealing clothes on him and didn't seem in such a good mood. Felicia didn't look too thrilled either; Goofy and Irina were, I think, completely all right.

"Hey, I'm not from here, all right?"

"Easy, guys..." Ken intervened. "No need to start a fight right now."

"I think we should investigate if the Heartless have reached the city," Ryu suggested. "Afterwards, we should start looking for the Keyhole. Opening a new route might just get the book working, not to mention that it will finish with the Heartless menace."

"That sounds like a plan," Leon said.

"Yes... Well, finding out whether the Heartless have been spotted or not is simple," Catherine said. "All we have to do is buy a newspaper."

"Good thinking... And here I thought you were from another world," Ranma said.

"Oh, I am; but it's a world naturally connected to yours."

"Much like my own," Camille declared. "In that case, my lovely angelic elf, do you want to make your way to your home now that you know where it is?"

"Not right now... I want to stay and help you, guys," Irina answered, with a smile.

"Well, then I guess that settles it," Ryu said. "Let's go buy a newspaper."

"Wait just a minute," Baiken interrupted. "I'm taking advantage of Ken's generous nature: I want to eat some authentic New York pizza."

We all laughed as she said this. It was amazing to see her in such a good humor.

"All right, all right," Ken agreed. "I know a good joint that's just a few blocks from here. It's got a lot of tables, so we can put some together, if there aren't many people. Besides, it's an open space, so you'll get to see the buildings..."

"Let's go, then," Jam said. "Now that Baiken mentioned it, I'm in the mood for some pizza myself."

We reached the restaurant after a mere five-minute walk. Thankfully, there weren't a lot of people sitting down, so we were allowed to put some tables together. By the look of things, most costumers just placed their order at the counter, waited for their food, and then left. It wasn't too shocking: the restaurant was right at the corner of the cross-section between two big avenues. There was a lot of noise, but at least the sight was impressive and we got to sit down together.

"I saw a newspaper stand on the other side of the street," Ken said. "I'm going to buy the Times... Who wants to go pay for the pizza?"

"We'll do it," I volunteered, looking at Wilheim.

"Sweet," he said, giving us three hundred bucks. "Just order ten..." he paused for a bit, as his eyes went from Ryu to Ranma to Merryck to Wilheim. "Make that seventeen large pepperoni pizzas. I know it sounds simple, but trust me: they're the best. I'll be right back... Oh! And buy lemon soda for all, too."

"All right."

While Ken raced to the newsstand, Wilheim and I headed for the counter and placed our order.

"Seventeen large ones?" the clerk exclaimed, raising an eyebrow. "You guys sure must be starvin'... Are you sure you're gonna eat 'em all?"

"Trust me, my friend: my friends and I will not leave a crumb behind," Wilheim answered.

"Say, that's a nice accent you have there," a woman standing by the counter suddenly said with a thick, Southern accent, turning to Wilheim. "You're not from around here, are you, sugar?"

I turned to her while trying to control myself... I didn't want to start another Jam situation. Yet as soon as I looked at her, my jaw nearly dropped and I froze...

The woman was just gorgeous. She was as tall as Wilheim himself and had a mesmerizing body that seemed both as delicate as a flower and as solid as a boulder. She wore a blue mini-skirt, a white blouse, and had high brown boots. She had a pair of leather gloves covering her hands and a bandanna on her head. Her hair was long and thick. Its color was chestnut, yet she had a long, white forelock. She had a kind face and beautiful, brown eyes...

Wilheim chuckled and said:

"No, I am not, miss... I come from Germany... Well, actually, I live in Japan with my beloved."

"Oh, I see," the woman said, with a smile. "I didn't know you were taken, sugar. I apologize, sister."

"Oh... no... No problem," I stuttered.

"I take it you're tourists, huh?"

"You might say that," Wilheim said.

"How do you like the Big Apple so far?"

"It is amazing. I have never seen something so impressive. And I have only been here one afternoon..."

"Well, I hope you continue to enjoy the sights, sugar." At that moment, one of the employees handed her two large pizzas. "Gotta run. Have a great time, guys. I'll see you later."

"Thank you, miss; it was a pleasure," Wilheim said with a smile and while blushing. He turned to me and at last noticed my expression... although he misread it. "Oh, Ukyo... Let us not go through this again..."

"No, Wilheim, that's not it," I clarified. "I mean... Didn't you see the resemblance?"

"...What resemblance?" he questioned, completely baffled.

"Guys, you go take a seat," the clerk said. "We'll take the pizzas to you."

"Thanks," we replied and returned to our friends.

"How long before the pizzas are ready?" Baiken inquired.

"He didn't say..." I replied. "Don't hold your breath, though... Seventeen pizzas are a lot of work. Anyway, guys: I just saw the most striking look-alike I've ever laid eyes on."

"Really? Who?" Sakura asked.

Before I could answer, however, Ken got back from the stand and stood silently beside us.

"You took your sweet time," Felicia grumbled. She was in a terrible mood, no doubt because she was so hot under all those clothes... "What the heck took you so long?"

"Is everything okay, Ken?" Akane asked and it was not until then that we realized he was shocked.

"Guys..." he mumbled, as we all leaned on the table to hear what he had to say. "I don't think we're in New York after all."

"...Excuse me?" Jam croaked.

"Well, that's not what I meant," he said. "This is New York, all right... But either it's the biggest April's Fool's joke I've ever seen, or that book is way weirder than we thought at first."

"Ken, what exactly are you talking the fuck about?" Baiken pressed.

With an almost lazy-like motion, Ken tossed the newspaper he had just bought on top of the table. We looked at it and understood his words. Some of us remained silent as the grave, while some others gasped, and a few even yelped – from excitement or confusion, I would not know. It was an edition of the "Daily Bugle"... and the front page read: _Spiderman Vs. the Shadows. Staged?_ And below these words, was a picture of Spiderman fighting a bunch of Heartless.

We were awe-struck. None of us could find anything to say. Well... those of us who knew who Spiderman was, anyway. The long, intriguing pause came to an end when Leon innocently asked:

"Do you know this guy?"

"Know him??" we blurted, turning to him.

"Oh, so you do know him," Sora said. "Is he your friend?"

"...No, guys, you don't understand!!" Felicia exclaimed. We quickly shushed her, since she had scared the people around with her yell. "You don't understand! Spiderman is a comic book character! He's not supposed to exist!"

"He's a super-hero!" Ryoga added. "A fictional character! I mean, he's supposed to be one! And this newspaper should also be!"

"...That's so weird..." Goofy mumbled, scratching his head.

"Oh, it gets better," Ken said as he sat down, grabbed the newspaper and flipped the pages. He stopped and showed us another headline, which read: "Mutant representatives deny giving shelter to the Shadows."

"Mutant representatives...?" I breathed. "Oh, my God... This isn't a joke... That wasn't a look-alike!"

"What? What are you talking about, Ucchan?" Ranma asked. "Who did you see by the counter, then?"

"It must've been Rogue!" I said. "She looked just like her and even spoke with a Southern accent!"

"I do not know who that is," Wilheim sighed. "I still have a lot to remember about comic books."

"You saw Rogue??" Akane screamed and again, we shushed. "Why didn't you say so??"

"I thought it was just a look-alike!" I repeated. I felt somewhat bad for her... After all, Rogue was her favorite super-hero.

"Guys, guys, quiet," Ken interrupted. "This weirdness only gets better." He flipped the pages again and stopped on the economy section. "There's a special article that talks about the largest, richest companies in the world... Care to guess the name of number one?"

"This spectacularly odd turn of events narrows my guesses down..." Demean mumbled. I think he still hadn't recovered from seeing Spiderman in the front page. "Stark Industries?"

"No, it's—wait: Stark Industries is number two," Ken declared. "Why? Who's the one from Stark Industries?"

"Tony Stark," Felicia answered. "Ironman!" she hissed after Ken remained idle for a while.

"Oh! I see... Then it's even crazier; because the top of the list is Wayne Enterprises."

"_Wayne_ _Enterprises_?!" Tish shouted, poking her head out of Demean's jacket, earning a shush herself. "That cannot be possible!!"

"It apparently is possible... See, they also talk about Superman on the second page."

"_Superman_?!" Felicia squealed.

"SHH!!"

"Everyone, just calm down," Jam said. "Listen... Like Ken said, this might just be an April's Fool's joke. Pretty elaborate, I'll give you that: but a hoax, anyway. That girl you saw, Ukyo, she could've only been one look-alike; nothing else. What solid proof do we have?"

"For starters, today isn't April the first," Baiken said, looking at the newspaper's date.

"That might also be part of the joke. You know what? Point number one in my favor: the newspaper is called the Daily Bugle! A _fictional _newspaper!"

"That doesn't count," Ken said. "I saw a copy of the New York Times and they said the same stuff there... I only bought this one 'cause it's the one with the best picture of Spiderman..."

"...It can still be a joke, guys," Jam insisted.

"No," Ryoga forcefully said. "If that's a joke, then they've used the entire national budget to pull it off." We looked at him and saw he pointed at a very tall building, rising from among others, which was about ten blocks away. It looked strangely familiar, though I couldn't figure out where I had seen it before. However, we could always count on Felicia to enlighten us.

"Oh, my God, it's the Baxter Building!!" she yelped, though this time, she lowered the volume of her voice. Jam turned to her with an impatient look, not knowing what she meant. "That's the Fantastic Four's headquarters!"

"Right: which might've been based off an actual building," Jam said, unwilling to yield without solid proof.

She was about to say something else when suddenly we began to hear cheers. We looked at the street beside us and saw the people from around waving and yelling enthusiastically at the sky. Except, they weren't cheering at the sky...

"Oh, my God... Oh, my God!" Sakura squealed, losing her voice as she pointed up.

A man in tight blue and red clothes adorned with black threads of web that ran throughout his muscular, athletic body swung through the skyscrapers with the very webs he shot from his wrists. His face was concealed behind a mask, yet everyone knew him; everyone knew the hero with the big, white eyes that hid that young man's true identity...

He swung right above us, turned left and kept on going, uninterrupted by the people's cheers and soon disappeared behind the buildings.

"...That was Spiderman..." Demean croaked after a few moments of remaining in utter shock. "...That was Spiderman..."

"...YEAH!!" Sakura exploded, jumping up from her chair. "GO, SPIDEY!!"

"Calm down, Sakura!" Leon whispered, pulling her back to her seat. The rest of us didn't have the heart to tell her to shut up. "You've got to get a hold of yourself, before—"

"That was Spiderman..." Demean repeated. We all looked at the astonished expression on his face and the only one who managed to squeeze a laugh out was Wilheim, for the rest of us still couldn't believe our eyes either.

"The legendary Demean looking upon Spiderman as if he were a five year old boy," he chuckled, marveled at the irony.

"But it was Spiderman!" the elf exclaimed, smiling from ear to ear.

"Not to question your grip on reality, Marmalade Jam," Baiken said. "But tell me again: how many people do you know that shoot webs from their hands and swing like monkeys through New York City?"

"...Okay, so all of this might actually be real..." Jam sighed, feeling more confused than ever.

"Here are your pizzas, fellas," the pizza guy announced, leaving us our seventeen pizzas on top of our table.

_(Change of scene)_

"So what's the plan now, guys?" Ken asked as he chewed on his slice of pizza.

"I don't know what to say," Catherine said and gave her soda a zip. "I can't say I understand what's going on here... Super-heroes in our world. How did they get here? Or, how did we get into their world?"

"It's all that book's doing, I'm sure," Donald declared. "Oh, boy, oh, boy... You weren't lying, Ken: this pizza is incredible."

"Told ya," Ken said.

Ken – who had the biggest room, naturally – had invited us all to stay there and talk about what was going on. We had taken the pizzas with us, deciding that it was best we discussed this whole super-hero matter in private. The food was good and the topic was, although a baffling mystery, utterly exciting, to say the least.

"Let us recapitulate," Camille said. "We have encountered a world which is a mixture between worlds, for Ken's money exists and his company is still one of the richest in the world, yet we have seen Spiderman swing from one building to another with our very eyes. Clearly the book Merlin found is the passage way between worlds..."

"If we are to follow your childish whims, I take it you want to meet this world's heroes," Octavius guessed.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but you're absolutely right about that," Felicia answered. "Besides, there are Heartless around here. If they're already referring to them in the newspapers as Shadows, that means they've been here for a while, and if the super-heroes are fighting against them, that means we can help them."

"I agree, but there might be no utter consequence," the were-bear discussed. "We do not know if this is even real."

"We're not dreaming, that's for sure," Sakura said. "I've tried pinching myself like seven times. It's hurt each time."

"I am not arguing about whether or not all of this is a dream: I have said that I have my doubts about this situation's bond to reality."

"If there are Heartless about, it is still our job to get rid of them," Tish stated.

"If this is not real, then we waste our time," Octavius insisted. I think he was the only one that wasn't the least bit excited about meeting super-heroes. Well, Siegfried didn't get to read any comic books, so he wasn't excited, but that didn't mean he wanted to leave the world right away. And I think that Jam was on that channel, too, although she did know a thing or two about super-heroes.

"How can you know if this is real or not, Octavius?" Wilheim questioned. "While I do accept the fact that there is a possibility that this might be an alternate universe in which our actions could be meaningless, I also consider that the Heartless are here, and defeating them, like Tish said, is our mission." He gulped down the last bit of his current slice of pizza before going on. "We have no immediate way of learning of this is real or not. Our only option is to battle the Heartless. I myself barely know about comics, so, though animated, I am not dying to meet them..."

"That desire is childish and because of it you are all thinking unclearly," the were-bear declared.

"Listen, please," Wilheim interrupted. "In our travels, we have met people all over the worlds who are waging war against the Heartless, and we have helped them, and they have helped us. Stop looking at the super-heroes as such – they are beings fighting against darkness and we need to help."

Octavius sighed and finally nodded.

"You have a good, rational point," he admitted. "Very well. If that is the case, then what should we do next? I assume there are 'experts' among us, so I think it is best to listen to their opinion..."

"Well, I guess it's obvious that we're going to go look for super-heroes," Adrian said. "I'd just like to clear something out. I'm sure some of you have thought of it, but for those of you who haven't, here goes: we're in a super-hero world, and that means that the Heartless aren't going to be the only enemies we'll be facing..."

"Super-villains," Felicia mumbled, with a shiver. She then shook her head and said: "I hadn't thought of that little detail. This isn't good... at all."

"Super-villains, whatever," Jam scoffed. "I bet they can't be much tougher than some of the major Heartless we've fought."

"Really?" Sakura said. "I guess you're not that much into comics. For the record, I'd rather take my chances against I-No than, say, Carnage."

"Carnage is not the being that worries me the most," Demean declared. "To be completely honest, I am terrified about running into the Joker."

"A clown?" Jam said, frowning. "Are you serious? You're supposedly a big-shot from where you come, and you're telling me you're scared of Bozo?"

"Let me guess... You just saw the Adam West show, right?" Adrian deduced. Jam sighed and nodded. "Yeah... The Joker's nothing like that."

"Demean and Adrian are right," Ken said. "I don't read a lot of comics, but I do know we're in the big leagues now and we have to be very careful."

"Well, taking that into account, now comes the big question: who do we look for first?" Ranma asked.

There were probably a dozen of different answers, followed by a dozen different arguments as to why a super-hero was a better choice than other. For my part, I remained silent. Although the idea of meeting Batman or Spiderman was certainly appealing, there was only one being I wished to meet and it was obvious to me we wouldn't find him in that world.

"We aren't getting anywhere," Leon said aloud. "Make up your minds... And just for once, try to reason a bit. It's not about meeting your favorite hero, it's about who's the best person to battle the Heartless."

His argument didn't help the situation, as the discussion raged on, but now the point to be made was who was the super-hero best equipped to help us in our mission.

"Gwarsh, this could go on for hours..." Goofy murmured. "I have an idea... Why don't we just split up and everyone goes to find whoever it is they want to see?"

At last, silence. Everyone looked at Goofy and then at each other.

"That's not a bad idea!" Akane said.

"Are you kidding? It's a terrible idea!" Leon argued. "Sora is the only one who can get rid of the Heartless. Leaving him unprotected is the last thing we would want to do."

"He's not going to be unprotected," Felicia said. "We're simply going to go help different heroes in different places. Besides, once we explain the situation to them, we can rendezvous with Sora. And he himself will have the best protection he could ask for, because he's coming with me to Metropolis to find Superman."

"Fine by me," Ranma declared. "Akane and I will be looking for the X-men in the mean time."

"I'd like to go to the Baxter Building," Ryoga said.

"I think we should go talk to the Avengers," Sakura countered. "Spidey will be there... And so will the Fantastic Four."

"I assume you want to meet Spiderman, correct?" Tish asked Demean.

"That is something you do not even have to guess," the elf replied with a laugh.

"I will go with you, if you promise that afterwards you will travel with me to Gotham City."

"Dear God... All right," Demean sighed.

"I'm confused again," Sora announced. "Let's just get this clear once and for all, okay? How are we splitting up?"

"Demean and I will look for the Avengers," Tish declared. "I assume Merryck, Sakura and Ryoga will come with us."

"You got that right!" Sakura exclaimed enthusiastically.

"The Avengers... I can barely believe this!" Merryck added.

"Ranma and I are going to search for Professor Xavier's school," Akane announced. "Anyone care to join?"

"I'm in," Ken said.

"So am I, then," Ryu added.

"I'm going to meet Superman," Felicia said, shivering excitedly as she realized her words. "...I'm going to meet Superman!! And you're coming with me, Sora. With any luck, we'll be taken to the Watchtower!"

"I don't think they'll take us there so easily," Adrian said. "Still, I'll go with you."

"To Metropolis? With us?" Felicia giggled. "I thought you'd be dying to go to Gotham... What happened? Did you finally realize the inescapable truth?"

"Batman IS better than Superman," the vampire retorted. "However... I do realize he's sort of a douche in the comics, while Superman is..." He rolled his eyes as he spoke. "A nice guy. I like the bat better, that's definitive: but I think it'll be best if I don't meet him in the flesh for now."

"Excuses," the cat-woman laughed. "Well, whatever. So, that's Sora, Donald, Goofy, Adrian, and I. Anyone else?"

"I'll go with you," I said. "Despite everything, Sora needs a helping hand. I'll go with you guys to make sure he's all right."

"I'm a big boy now, Ukyo... I can take care of myself," the young man chuckled.

"In this world, we can't be too careful, sugar."

"Following that philosophy, I'll join you," Jam declared. "It's not like I'm crazy about meeting anybody. I'm more concerned about Sora this time."

"Thanks, Jam..." Sora murmured shyly.

"My situation is the same as Jam's" Siegfried announced. "Count me in, too. And of course, you'll be coming with us as well, right, Wilheim?"

"Wherever my darling goes, so shall I," my baby said.

"I suppose I'll go with Ryu, Ken, and the others," Catherine said. "It seems to me Sora will be fine with all that company."

"I'll go with you guys too, then," Leon told Ranma and Akane. "How about you, Irina?"

"Well... all right," the elf-angel answered, a bit indifferently... Although she could've also been disappointed...

"Camille?" Demean asked.

"You are the smallest group. I shall aid you," she said.

"Then I shall go, too," Octavius announced.

"You're the only one missing, Baiken..." Felicia said. "I take it you're coming with Ukyo and Wilheim."

"Hmm... Where are you headed to, again?" Baiken said.

"Metropolis, to see Superman."

"Uh-huh... And you're going to see the Avengers, right?" she asked Demean and Tish. "And afterwards?" she added as they nodded.

"To Gotham City," Tish replied.

"It's done, then: I'm going with you."

"...What?" Jam laughed. "You're not coming with your beloved disciples? Are you serious?" She stood up and kept on giggling. "So you have a soft spot for bats, Baiken?"

Our master turned to Jam with an apparent angry look. After a few moments, however, she couldn't contain herself and actually smiled.

"Oh, shut up," she said, causing Jam to laugh even more. "He's the smartest guy around. Plus, believe it or not, I _am_ a woman, and Batman's... very handsome. Even with those stupid pajamas on."

"He's not real!!"

"He is now!"

"Unbelievable," Jam said, shaking her head. I think that, what amazed her the most was that Baiken had actually been nice to her. "Well... Best of luck with that guy, then. I prefer them a bit younger."

"You chase jailbait, that's what you do," Baiken retorted and they both laughed. I was truly amazed. Either that pizza had dope in it or Jam and Baiken were starting to get along...

"If we're all settled, then we should get some rest and head out tomorrow," Adrian suggested. "It's nearly morning now..."

_(Change of scene)_

The moment the sun hid behind the skyscrapers the following day and the sky began to turn pink, we parted ways. Those who had agreed to meet the Avengers bid us farewell as we left their side and headed to the nearest bus station. Ranma and Akane located Xavier's School for the Gifted Youngsters on the Internet and set off to get to it.

As for us, Felicia had found Metropolis's location on a web-search, too. That's why we went to the bus station: it would take a two-hour ride to reach it. I found it curious that it existed, since Metropolis was supposed to be New York in the comics with a different name... But with so many universes intertwined, I really didn't know what to expect.

Felicia, although still complaining about being too hot with clothes on, was behaving like a little girl and could barely remain still in her seat. Everyone looked excited. Even Wilheim, who knew nearly nothing about Superman, seemed a little thrilled. For my part, although animated, I remained quiet during the trip, staring out the window, letting out a sigh every now and then. It seemed everyone would get to meet their heroes... But I was certain that mine would be nowhere to be found on that world.

_(Author's note...)_

All right! Now that the chapter's done, I get to do the obvious disclaiming: the characters mentioned and appearing in this and the following chapters don't belong to me: they're property of DC Comics and Marvel... and Disney, I guess (By the way, I thought of this chapter long before they bought Marvel, despite what you might think :P).

Perhaps I'll throw some more people into the mix, so I'll continue to disclaim characters as we move on. You've been warned... :P


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